The Great Gilly Hopkins

Paterson, Katherine (1978). The Great Gilly Hopkins. New York, New York: Harper Collins.
Galadriel (Gilly) Hopkins is a sixth grader that is on her way to her third foster family. Gilly has been in the foster care system since her mother relinquished Gilly at the age of three. Gilly is a very smart but difficult to place "problem child". Gilly is horrified by her new foster family. There is Mrs. Trotter who is overweight and very religious. She is a widow and has been a foster mother for over 20 years. There is her foster son William Ernest who at first Gilly takes great delight in teasing and tormenting. The next door neighbor is a blind African American man that is like a part of the family. Gilly finds herself falling in love with her school, teacher and family. but she resists. Gilly is used to being abandoned by the ones that she loves, so she does not allow herself to get close to anyone. Gilly keeps waiting for her mother to come for her. After receiving a postcard from her mom, Gilly steals from Mrs, Trotter and Mr. Randolph and tries to take a bus to go to California to see her mom, but she is stopped at the bus station and returned to Mrs. Trotter. Gilly realizes how much the family loves her after that. Gilly had sent a desperate letter to her mother to save her. Now that she feels like a part of her new family, her maternal grandmother shows up to take her in response to Gilly's letter. Gilly does not want to leave, but is told that she must. Gilly settles in with her grandmother. Her mother comes to visit her and Gilly realizes that she was wrong to want to leave Mrs. Trotter, but it is too late for her to go home. Gilly decides that she will need to use the lessons that she learned her her last home to create a new home and family with her grandmother.
This book has a powerful theme about what exactly is a family and how is it defined. This book is also filled with interesting characters. They may seem out there, yet are totally believable.