Katherine Paterson - The Great Gilly Hopkins: Scholastic Literature Guide Grades 4-8

Pros: Female protagonist captures your heart and pulls you inside the story

Cons: Certain issues within the book have met with disapproval in some places

The Bottom Line: I wouldn't ban this book; I would encourage others to read it. Would you?

Review: The Great Gilly Hopkins is a book that, as a child, I didn't want to read. I think it was a case of mistaken identity. We had this Disney show taped off TV that had little snippets from dozens of Disney movies. One of these was The Journey...

Pros: Students will only treasure Gilly's values and virtues. Katherine Paterson's savvy and wit are contagious!

Cons: There is a modicum of profanity.

The Bottom Line: "Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown." Gilly's greatness is contingent upon her ability to take risks, metamorphose, and grow!

Review: Three characteristics that make Gilly great include the following: she follows all the rules, she copes effectively under stress, and she is a role model for others to emulate. If you believe this then you didn’t read the story, which revolves...

Pros: A very real story that happens in real life

Cons: Lots of cuss words

Review: This book won the Newbery Honor Book Award. Perhaps, that's why I decided to read this book. Possibly because I wanted to be a child again and read a Scholastic book. Well, I read it. I don't regret it either.

Galadriel (Gilly) Hopkins, an...

Pros: It is very heartfelt, and teaches that families don't have to be conventional to work

Cons: swears (pretty mild though, not severe swears) light reading- pro or con depending

The Bottom Line: This book is great, I would recommend it to anyone, kid or adult. It is touching and teaches the moral that love is what makes a family.

Review: I read this book when I was in fourth grade with my class. I think it is a very good book. Gilly's biological mother is alive still (her name is Courtney), but yet Gilly is constantly being bounced from foster home to foster home. She thinks that her...

Pros: The protagonist is rough around the edges.

Cons: The strong language lands the book on banned lists.

The Bottom Line: This is a book that earned its Newbery Honor and continues to move its readers with its simple power.

Review: I find myself revisiting the books of my youth. Yes, it probably has something to do with being a mother, yet my three-year-old is nowhere near ready for the chapter books I’ve been picking up at garage sales and used book sales. Indeed, by the time he...

Pros: Well-Written.

Cons: They swear a lot. Quite boring actually.

The Bottom Line: It might be a good book to read, but in my opinion, just don't read it

Review: Hey, it's me again. The real critic. This is my 4 review.

Let me start by saying what it is about.


The novel The Great Gilly Hopkins is about a foster child named Gilly Hopkins who goes to live with a woman named Maime Trotter...