The Great Gilly Hopkins Audiobook By Katherine Paterson cover art

The Great Gilly Hopkins

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The Great Gilly Hopkins

By: Katherine Paterson
Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
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At eleven, Gilly is nobody's real kid. If only she could find her beautiful mother, Courtney, and live with her instead of in the ugly foster home where she has just been placed! How could she, the great Gilly Hopkins, known throughout the county for her brilliance and unmanageability, be expected to tolerate Maime Trotter, the fat, nearly illiterate widow who is now her guardian? Or for that matter, the freaky seven-year-old boy and the shrunken blind black man who are also considered part of the bizarre ""family""? Even cool Miss Harris, her teacher, is a shock to her.

Gutsy Gilly is both poignant and comic as, behind her best barracuda smile, she schemes against them and everyone else who tries to be friendly. The reader will cheer for her as she copes with the longings and terrors of always being a foster child.

Katherine Paterson, winner of the 1978 Newbery Medal for Bridge to Terabithia and of the 1977 National Book Award for The Master Puppeteer, again reaches across boundaries with her wit, compassion, and love, and here creates an immensely engaging story about a child's desperate search for a place to call home.

Family Life Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction National Book Award Social & Life Skills Fostering
Enchanting Story • Believable Characters • Relevant Message • Beautiful Storytelling • Expressive Voice

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A lovely story about finding comfort, love, and stability. But where is it found?

Where is home?

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This book used to be on my school's Core Literature list and was pulled by many buildings, because of the delicate subject matter. Gilly has very strong opinions about certain topics, like race. However, I feel this story is still very relevant, today. A good read for a child mature enough to handle saucy Gilly.

Gilly is a mess!

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Although it is an easy read, I would only recommend this book to mature YA readers or adults due to the language and topics mentioned (racism, abandonment, religion, etc.). The story itself is enchanting as it follows a tough 11-year-old girl, seeking to find "home".

Great Book for Mature YA Reader

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This is a heartbreakingly wonderful story that is perfectly narrated. What more is there to say? Read it or listen to it. The author's characters are so believable and the narrator perfectly captures Gilly's personality. Great book for middle grades and up!

Heartbreakingly Wonderful

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Overall, a nice story but ended a little flat and felt rushed. The audio version was ok but the MC's voice sounded a little too old for the character's age. Nice story, overall.

Simple but nice story

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