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Summary: A Testament To The Human Spirit
Review: Ellen Foster is one of the best books I have read recently. It was different enough to hold this avid reader's attention and well-written enough to see me through to the end. Ms. Gibbon's style of moving back and forth between past and present was expertly done and never left me wondering where I was within the story. Her heroine, Ellen Foster, is a true testament to the human spirit. Enduring a number of horrors that might have brought an adult to their knees, this eleven year old manages to emerge from each with a deeper sense of rightousness and determination to rise above it all. And, there is a sense of truth to this character. You never doubt that she would do and say all that she does in this story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written, honest read with a satisfying and wholly enjoyable ending.
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Summary: Amy's Review
Review: Critic, Amy Carnes, rated the book, Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons with five stars. "Ellen Foster blew my mind" said Amy. It is like real life events. The young girl in the book is a girl of great mind. She tells you,in an adult way, about her life in the past. The way the book jumps back from the future to the present gives the reader another way of viewing a story. Unlike most books, this is written in a different format. Something knew and different for a change. Because the young girl, Ellen, thinks like an adult,it helps older people to understand it. Most books with young people being the narrator is hard to comprehend, but this one, no way! "I understood Ellen because of the way she thinks, she thinks like me. This is an amazing story about the truth. Things like this story really do happen. It woke me up on the way foster children can really be hurt." If you thought that a child could not take care of themselves alone, read this book and your view will change. "My view definitely changed, on children when I read this story. I realize now that they do need some credit for their abilities. A child is no longer what they used to be and this book shows it all. Ellen dazzled me with her mind and her soul." Ellen is a young girl with an adult mind. When children need to think big, Ellen shows, that they think extra big. Kaye Gibbons, take a bow for this is your moment. Kaye Gibbons is the author of this book and she received five stars. Kaye Gibbons really got the drift on what people like and understand. "I would like to thank, Kaye, for writing this book. I got a knew view on story order and I loved the story, it was so real."
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Summary: The adventure of Ellen Foster
Review: On a scale of 1 to 5 the book Ellen Foster should be given a 5. To me the book was about a girl who acted mature at times and then acted immature at times. In the beginning of the book Ellen did not like colored folks. Then she became good friends with a colored girl named Starletta. Also in the beginning o the book Ellen's mother died. Her and her father did not get along quite well. Then she moved with her aunt and her cousin. A lot of things were going troubled in Ellen's life and she delt with them very maturity. Ellen was a foster child and there were many troubles in her life. On Christmas day her aunt bought her pack of paper and brought her cousin a lot of toys. Ellen through the paper back at her aunt and cousin. Then her aunt told her to get out. Ellen went to the lady house from church with the girls. I liked this book for many reasons. For one how Ellen changed dramatically throughout this book. When she is with Starletta she acts like a child. When she is in bad situations, she acts like an adult. Another reason for liking this book is because of how she changed her appearance towards colored folks. Ellen had bad situation with her grandmother. In other words I really liked this book because it shows how a person can change. It also teaches how a child can act mature when it is the right time to act mature. The Book Ellen Foster shows us how sht was a foster child and how she spent some of her days wondering where was she going to lay her head at night and it always in up in a good outcome. The book was really enjoyable because it shows how a person can go through so much and still come out on top of everything. This story shows that Ellen Foster did all of these things.
Rating: 
Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: Ellen Foster is a three star novel written by Kaye Gibbons. It is a story written about a little girl named Ellen. She had a hard life in her early years of life. Her mother died when she was a young girl. She was then left to live along with her no good drunk for a daddy. Ellen had to steal her father's money just to pay the bills and put food in the house. After Ellen got tried of the way her father was treating her she decide to run away. Then they have to go to court and her grandmother gets custody of her. Her grandmother treats her worse then her father treats her. She makes Ellen go out in the hot sun and work in a cotton field. Her grandmother treats her so bad because she blames her for her mother's death. Then her grandmother gets sick and dies. Then Ellen is forced to live with her Aunt Nadine and her cousin Dora. They act like they are high-class people. Ellen does like the way the way the live, but she just stays out of their way and does what they want her to do. She was kicked out of her aunt's house on Christmas Day. That's when she went to the foster family and found her new mother. Then she gets her new mother to invite her best friend Starletta come to spend the night with her. Then when Starletta comes to visit the lay across Ellen's bed and Ellen relieves that she has had a hard life, but it has not been as hard as Starletta life. Starletta has had such a hard life all because she is black. I dislike the book. It did not have enough action in it. Most of the story was real` boring. The story was very hard to understand. This is because it went from past to present. It was hard to tell when she was speaking of the past and when she was talking about the present. The book was not written about a subject that most people can relate to. I believe that the book should be written from more then one person's point of view. The people need to here both sides of the story to see what side of the story is true. The way the story is written Ellen could be lying.
Rating: 
Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons is a deep book that gets the reader's attention. It focuses on the life of an eleven year-old girl. Young Ellen has to face challenges unknown. She deals with a "dead-beat" father and an obstinate grandmother. Ellen is loved by many and despised by others. She is faced with many obstacles and restraints. I rate this book a four star out of five because even thought it is filled with thought, integrity, humor, and compassion, it is often hard to read. Kaye Gibbons has a unique style of writing. She never carried a conversation using any quotes. It gets quite confusing when a group of people is carrying a conversation. I sometimes find myself reading aloud just so I can know what's going on. The reader must pay strict attention when reading this book. The book flashes back and forward from past to present. It focuses on Ellen's old life as opposed to her new life. Ellen enjoys her new life with her new mama. The book goes into further details as of to how Ellen moves all the way from father to aunts, from aunts to art teacher, from art teacher to grandmother, and from grandmother to new mama. I recommend any and everyone to read this book. It teaches a virtuous lesson in which everyone can get a different view. It focuses on the bases of life. While reading this book, the reader may feel as if he or she is really apart of it. It deals with the thoughts of the mind. It makes you wonder are you living your life to the fullest.
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Summary: Ellen Foster' Review
Review: Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons is an five star book. In the book Ellen Foster, Ellen is a superior example of an over matured child. She displays and performs the roles as an adult without hesitating. I think Kaye Gibbons did an outstanding job on making me as a reader feel what she was writing. She not only uses full emotion in her writing, she gives passion. Kaye shapes Ellen into a strong, brave, and intellegent young child. Ellen, goes through more sorrow and pain than any child I know. But Ellen over comes each obsticle one day at a time. She uses different stradges, but makes it through the rocky road. Ellen, makes me as a young adult realize how much I take my life for granted. Also, Ellen makes my problems as a child look poitless. This young, bright, and courageous girl over comes death, emotional stress, and verbal abuse. She is truly a Vigorous young lady. Kaye Gibbons does an awesome job on letting us a readers know this. She goes right from her thoughts as they flow. This was not only an outstanding book,it was a lesson and a blessing to me. This book taught me that life is all about what you make it. No matter what your home life or personal life is like. You make the decison on how life for you turns. Plus, Ellen made me realize how precious my family life is to me and that it might not be so bad. We as adults and children take so many things for granted, but not Ellen she lifes everyday to the fullest. She dreams as a child, but thinks as an adult. Ellen Foster has become my fictional heroe. She is truly a real woman trapped into a childs' body. I enjoyed Ellen Foster almost more than any book read in my English class. I encourage you to buy, check out,or borrow Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. Especially if you are looking for a book full of emotion, feeling, and real life drama. Ellen Foster is truly the book for you. Ellen Foster Five Stars!
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Summary: Ellan Foster review
Review: If I were to rate this story on a scale of one to five I would give it a two. I thought the story started out well, but it did not end as well, actually it ended kind of boring to my point of view. The beginning had more suspense, towards the end it just got to be the same old same old. We all knew she was looking for a family to live in and that she wanted a home to stay in. That was really the main point all the way towards the ending. The reason I liked the beginning was because she was actually telling the story through both views of her mind, the way she was at the present and the way she was in the past. The past in her llife made the story exciting and made the story actually have some kind of meaning about it, because what she went through was tough, but she made it and never gave up hope when she was young. She always felt she was one step above the rest of her peers, always just a little better then everyone else. She never let her hard times she went through get her down or get to her in a way that would make her down on herself. This I liked in the story, I liked the way she handled herself with tough situations. The second half of this story to my point of view was quite boring. After her mom died she went to a foster care family where she spent some of her childhood. She still never changed the way she wnet about life, or the way she looked at things. To my point of view she learned a lot about life growing up under these tough circumstances. Also I believe it would help her to grow into a young adult faster. Her home life was never a perfect one growing up, but she always made the best of it. The one thing I was impressed with in this story was just the way she grew up. I mean she could have been some person that never cared, but she always found time for others as well as herself.
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Summary: A good book if your looking for insight into the human sprit
Review: Kaye Gibbons's Ellen Foster is a story of perseverance in the face of pain. Ellen is a girl who must endure terrible hardships through her young life, yet still remains brave, strong, and brash. A true monument to the human spirit, Ellen is a bright character who even with her awful circumstances is aware of the suffrage of others. From the destruction and pain brought by her drunken father and the deaths of those close to her, Ellen brings an unshakable enthusiasm and vitality, when many would lose the desire to endure. What begins as a gut-wrenching tale of a child's pain drives forth into a world of compassion, hope, and humor!
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Summary: The Wise One Within
Review: If one has ever read "Ellen Foster" by Kaye Gibbons, then one would agree it is a mind puzzling, heart stopping story that would make one think about one's own actions. I would have to rate this book five stars on a scale of one to five; one being the lowest and five being the highest, of course. Throughout the story, Ellen went through many complications. Ellen had to face the death of her mother (caused by her father), who was the life and soul of Ellen. Ellen's love for her mother was never distinguished by her death. In fact, by the death of her mother, Ellen was pushed even harder to survive and make something of herself. After the death of her alcoholic father, Ellen was sent to her grandmother's domicile, in which her grandmother was full of resentment and hatred toward her. Soon her grandmother dies, from becoming deathly ill. Ellen's family was so egotistical and "too good" for her. They did not love her. The only real affection Ellen ever really had was from her best friend, Starletta, who is a little black girl. Ellen and Starletta were best friends inspite of what society thought. Starletta and her family lived in poverty but still showed Ellen love and care. After her grandmother's death, Ellen was sent to live with her Aunt Nadine and cousin Dora. Dora was a spoiled rich kid and her attitude toward Ellen was, she did not have the deserving qualities to get Dora's attention and affection. Christmas day came and Nadine threw Ellen out of the house. Since Ellen is such a strong-minded person, Ellen went to a woman's house that she had seen in church. Ellen knew that the lady was a foster parent. When Ellen arrived, she offered all the money she had been saving up to her but the womand declined the offer. Ellen assumed the name, Ellen Foster, in which the title of the book is formed. "Ellen Foster" was such a great book that I recommend it to all book lover's. Kaye Gibbons has such a great style of writing, that you can understand why she is compared to William Faulkner. If you like Faulkner, you will love Gibbons too. Gibbons made the character Ellen so intelligent and loving. Ellen faced many tragedies in her life and stood tall threw them all. The world needs people like Ellen, even though she is just a character, to who is strong willed and full of companionship. "Ellen Foster" is so beautiful written and touches the heart, in a good way, that you should read it immediately. One cannot say enough about Ellen and her self-pride, intelligence, and manipulative ways. I end this with a plea for you to read this as soon as possible.
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Summary: Cassie Hartfelder's Revew
Review: The book Ellen Foster gets three stars. Though the book was very interesting to read it did have some oddities that caused a lower rating. one of the oddities is that the book would jump from past to present constantly. That can get very confusing toa reader. One moment you are reading abvout her biological mother then she will jump to her foster mother and some times you can't tell who is who. another of the oddities is that she would throw in thought or memories that would not pretainj to the current path pf the story. A good example is when she would talke of her father then jump to fiding a horse at her new mother's house. Though the book has very good points. When you read the book she makes you fell like you were really there. when she shows you emotion in the story you can almost feel it as well. Another good point is that she gave a lot of detail so that you can imagine how things looked, felt, or smelled. When she described her room at the art teacher's house you can almost see ever thing in it. The book shows pain and joy in away most books do not. It lets you feel and think the little girl. It takes a point of view that most books do not. The author shows you how it is like in a slanted world for a hard up girl. How the girls struggles to please her family and escape the pain of their rejection. The author lets you really get under the girl's skin. The book reallyshow you all of true world and not what some books show(sugar coded world). Though of the books oddities it is a really good read.
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