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Summary: You need to read this book!
Review: Kaye Gibbons is a gifted writer. She accomplished in Ellen Foster that which Faulkner attempted; easy to follow stream of consciousness writing.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: This is a wonderful piece of autobiographical fiction. Ellen comes from the dysfunctional home of a too-sick mother and a drunken, abusive father. She has learned early to take care, rather than be cared for. Ellen encounters other relatives as well, who should be her champions but are not. There are also many characters who give Ellen a glimpse at a better life: the librarian who helps her find books "of some account". Julia, the art teacher, who takes her into her happy but unconventional home, the mother of her black friend (in a very prejudiced South), and the foster mother, who understands the need for order and accepting love. All of these folks help Ellen to see a different, more desirable side to life.Through the first person narrative approach Gibbon's gives readers a good look at the life of an 11 year old girl. While confusing for some, the book is written in a style (vernacular, often without punctuation and quotation marks) that makes readers understand Ellen's story from her unique point of view. Gibbon's is successful in leading the reader to examine old themes, such as prejudice, from a very fresh perspective.
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Summary: The Trials of a Young Southern Girl
Review: Ellen Foster is an excellent way to express the value of the "American Dream." The ideal "American Dream" is an upper middle class, white, suburban, loving family. The family has two loving parents living in a two-story house with a white picket fence. Kaye Gibbons, the author, shows the opposite of this "ideal" dream. Ellen Foster is a Southern eleven-year-old girl who takes on the responsibilities of her drunken father and terribly ill mother until they both pass away. Gibbons shows how Ellen crosses broken bridges and is able to mature despite her hardships. Ellen suffers from a dysfunctional family, race-biased thoughts against her African-American friends, emotionally inflicted violence, and even a form of sexual abuse.
Ellen's character can relate to Toni Morrison's character, Pecola, found in The Bluest Eye. In The Bluest Eye, Pecola is an unwanted African-American girl who also searches for the "American Dream" of two loving parents in a happy home. Pecola longs for the love and support of others. Unlike Ellen, Pecola feels the only way to be accepted is if she is to change a physical aspect of herself.
Throughout the trials and tribulations of her life, Ellen manages to hold on to the hope that her troubled home and past is not all that there is to life. She searches for nothing more than a few dollars in her pocket, a belly full of wonderful food, and an unconventional family who loves her and provides her safety and support.
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Summary: Trip to Reality
Review: I found Ellen Foster to be an extraordinary novel. Telling of the triumphs and hardships of a young girl, it was a trip to reality for America.
I think the novel educated adults as to the true meaning of love and family. By seeing Ellen move amongst homes, we learn that children deserve more credit than they get.
America's trip to reality, while reading this novel, allowed us to realize just how devastating it can be to be carted from home to home. I think it'll make a lot of new mothers think twice in their decisions.
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn
Review: This might be a great book if I could have gotten into it but it just bored me to sleep. I tried SEVERAL times to get into the book but it was completely forced, and I couldn't do it. If the book description on the back sounds interesting to you, then give it a try, but if someone gives it to you saying you just have to read it, make sure you really want to do it, cause it may be just a big waste of time.
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Summary: one of the amazing book
Review: when i started reading the book, i wouldn't help but put it down. it's short, about 100 page, the text is very simple which made it easy to follow.
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Summary: I am being generous in giving this book one star
Review: This is the worst excuse for a book I have ever read. The author makes a pathetic attempt to write in the voice of a child, to no avail. I couldn't tell how old Ellen was, and I didn't know what the hell she was talking about most of the time. I spent two weeks reading this book. That's two weeks of my life I am never going to get back. What a waste. Don't make the same mistake I did.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: Ellen Foster is about a young girl who has a very unfortunate life. She is forced to raise herself after her mother's death even though she has living relatives. Ellen deals with a lot of issues that most adults do not face during their lifetime. I was completely drawn into this book after reading just the first page. The author did an exquisite job by making the reader feel as though they are with Ellen through every trial of her life. I would recommend this book for teachers to read themselves. I feel as though it will give them an idea of what some children go through. During a teacher's career, she will encounter some kind of abuse. I would not recommend this book to use for a class assignment. I feel as though it is too graphic for children. I also recommend this book to be used to show survival and success.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: This is an excellent novel, and I would recommend that all teachers read this book. However, I would not recommend this book for elementary school children. Ellen Foster is a young girl that is being abused physically and mentally. Through Ellen's young years she is forced to care for herself, because she is unwanted by her family members. In the book Ellen searches for a family that will love and care for her. At the end of the book you realize that Ellen has grown to be a wonderful child despite her abuse in the past.
Rating:
Summary: Very good, actually
Review: To all those who hate this book just because you had to read it in high school, I completely understand. I disliked most of the books we had to read all through high school in my honors/ AP English classes-you think YOUR discussions were bad! We beat a dead horse discussing some books for ages! That said, I would encourage all those who HAD to read this book (if any of said people read this) to go back and re-read those books with an open mind-you might find you actually like them. I understand that the writing style the author tends to use in Ellen Foster is unusual, but through it emerges a heroine that you'll remember forever. I loved Ellen Foster, and I hope that just because it's forced on you by (what seem like evil) english teachers that you won't automatically decide that you dislike it.
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