Rating: 
Summary: Short but impressive
Review: This is a short but engaging book that can easily be read in one sitting. Ellen Foster, the main character and narrator, is an 11 year old girl who has experienced more death and dysfunction than most people do in a lifetime. Her mother dies, her father is terribly abusive, and the remainder of the story chronicles her jostling from one relative's house to another- until she finally finds a home where she is truly cared for. Kaye Gibbons writes in choppy, incomplete sentences as one can imagine the grounded and brutually-honest Ellen might speak. The book flashes back from past to present, but Ellen's child-like yet suprisingly mature tone remains the same throughout. She is a strong and lovable character. Her relationship with a "colored" girl Starletta is another high point of the book, and Gibbons manages to hit on the subjects of society's "rules" and racial prejudice without seeming redundant. This book alerted me to not only Ellen's plight but the plight of all children who fall subject to the court, social services, and the foster care system.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: I recently read the book Ellen Foster. It is a book wrote by Kaye Gibbons told through the voice of the main character Ellen. It is a book that shows the realities of life and the things that many people have to endure but rarely speak of. Throughout the story she is moved from one home to the next and endures many hardships. It deals with such issues as physical and emotional abuse.
The book was very intriguing and made me want to keep reading. I also enjoyed the book because it is very true to life that many people experience. It made me believe that it could really have happened to someone. Or that Ellen could have been a real person. Another reason that I enjoyed the story was because it analyzed many things in her life and the situations that she was put in.
There were however, some things that were confusing in the book. The author left out small details that probaly could have helped me understand the book a little better, such as her age and the time period. Also in some parts the author would skip to a new scene leaving me confused. some of the time it was hard to keep up.
Overall I really enjoyed the book. The storyline was good and it was a very heart breaking book. I also taught many lessons. No matter how many bad things happend to Ellen she never fely sorry for herself.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible book
Review: My English teacher assigned me to read this book... for some reason he must like the Oprah's Book Club, because we have read numerous other books from it this year. I found this to be a very gloomy and depressing book, and the style of writing makes it very difficult to understand. The writing must be "interpreted" because the author does such a poor job of describing it. Overall I would have to give this book a big thumbs down. I would never have read it unless I had to. Whoops, better use an anonymous username in case my English teacher happens to see this! I hate that teacher!
Rating: 
Summary: A Depressing but Good Book!!!
Review: I recently read this book and was very impressed.
Ellen is born into a difficult family.When her mother dies, and her father continues to drink Ellen sees how unhappy she is. Instead of suffering painfully, she goes out to find her own happiness. I would clearly recommend this book:)
Rating:
Summary: A great short book, but quite involving
Review: If you are picking up this book because it is short, that's fine, but if you don't want to get a book where you're involved, a book where you actually feel things, then don't read Ellen Foster.
Ellen Foster has experienced her mother's, grandmother's and father's deaths. She is jumping around from leaf to leaf and looking for a permanant family.
This book jumps between time periods, when she is looking for a new family and when she has found a new family.
Ellen obviously can survive this because of her witty, aridly humorous take on life.
You can really understand her life because of Kaye Gibbons's brilliant depictions of what it is like to be misunderstood, to not know where you belong.
You will enjoy this book if you're looking for a book you can really get into, feel, and love. You will also find a laugh or two inside of the book, but you might have to look real hard!
Rating:
Summary: deeply moving, creatively written
Review: I read this book starting out as an assignment, but ended up adding it to the list of my favorites. The amount of levels Gibbons writes on is amazing; she can make you laugh and cry in one sentence. The book is made even better, in my opinion, by the fact that it is written from Ellen's point of view; this creates a certain innocent charm that adds to the emotional depth. She also makes light on topics such as racial equality and poor vs. rich. Overall, I would avidly recommend this book to anybody who loves a deeply moving read.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen is fabulous!
Review: The voice of this little girl is amazingly clear. How often do you laugh out loud? For a book that is not so funny... but oh, what a voice she has. Brilliantly written. Depressing- no. Sad- yes, orphanstories tend to be sad. Uplifting - very much so. Beautiful- without a doubt. I tend to shy away from Oprah because of the glitz, but I may take another look at her lists. I missed out on this wonder for too long because it was dubbed an "Oprah book."
Rating:
Summary: As good as it gets
Review: My first Kaye Gibbons book was "On the Occasion of my Last Afternnon," and I was hooked at that point. I can honestly say that the woman simply does not write bad books. You may not like all the characters and you might not like some of her subject material, but boy, does she know how to write! "Ellen Foster" has all the brilliance and style of Jackson McCrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood," with the great storytelling of "To Kill a Mockingbird." A great story about the conflicts within the human heart, "Ellen Foster" will stay with you long after you're done.
Rating:
Summary: It is All in How You Look At It
Review: Ellen Foster won't take you more than a few hours to read: It will be a few hours well spent. This slim volume provides a reminder that it is really up to each of us as individuals to decide how we will respond to what life throws at us. None of us would choose to have Ellen Foster's life: She is given little comfort anywhere. Yet while her lot is hard she has resilience. She is a child who discovers what's possible to use in a positive way even in the worst of situations. She doesn't fall victim to sorrowful self-pity, which would be easy enough to do given her lot. She judges people and situations based on the humanity (or lack there of) available and proves that she can make the best of what's available -- and eventually how she can bring humanity to others through the simplest of acts. She thus is able, on her own, to see the lie that allows racism to exist; understands the value of giving and receiving; finds love in the act of sitting in silence with a friend. I suspect that anyone can learn something from reading Ellen Foster's story--or at least they can be reminded of what really matters in human relations.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book!!!
Review: An 11 year old girl is born into a bad life. Her mother dies and her father drinks constantly. The poor girl drifts from one
foster home to another, in search of someone who really wants her. Finally, this brave young girl finds the perfect place to
stay. I read this book in one night and all I can say is WOW!!!
What I liked about Ellen Foster is that it portrays a terrible
life without being graphic. She isn't happy with her life, so
unlike so many other books in which the main character suffers through the misery,she proves herself to be worthy of more and
takes action to change things:)
| 
