Rating: 
Summary: WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ
Review: I have had to read some strange books in high school English Classes but this book takes the cake! This book does nothin but describe a little girls horrible life. This book is poorly written and is confusing. I wouldnt recommend this book to anyone in a million years!
Rating: 
Summary: A Sad Story With Some Attitude
Review: Ellen Foster is the loveable hero, right? Well, kind of. The novel entitled by the same name, written by Kaye Gibbons shows us a unique hell on wheels character, who by the time she's turned 8 years old, had been through more things than some 70 year olds live to see. The novel tries to be a sad portrait of Ellen's life, but instead, we are amazed and intriuged the most by the way Ellen seems to always bounce back from her troubled times. We don't feel sorry for Ellen we admire her for her couragesness, and "I'm my own person and to hell with you," attitude. Ellen Foster oddly reminded me a little bit of the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Although Speak is a better novel, Ellen seems to be the same type od character as Melinda from that novel. The only major difference is in the way the authors prsent their main characters. Eith way, both novels have a point to make, and they make it emphatically.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen F.
Review: Ellen Foster is told through a young narrator who paints an extraordinary self-portrait. Ellen is a child whose courage and humor with her a place in everyone's heart. Ellen's first eleven years are a long fight for survival. Her abused mother commits suicide, leaving Ellen to the mercies of her father, a drunken monster who either ignores her or makes sexual threats. Through her intelligence and determination, Ellen is able to provide for herself, but her desperate attempts to create an environment of order are continuously ruined by her father. Against all odds, Ellen never gives up her belief that there is a place for her in the world, a home which will satisfy all her longing for love, acceptance, and order. Her eventual success in finding that home and courageously claiming it as her own is a testimony to her unshakeable faith in the possibility of good. She never loses her sense of humor. Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons, is an original, compelling, and frightening real novel.By: Renee Ayers & Misty Browning
Rating:
Summary: Great Book.
Review: This book is wonderful book. A little short but it does get the story across in a great way. Ellen Foster is young girl who has to go through more struggle and pain in her life then anyone her age should have to. The author made Ellen seem so real like it was someone you had know for a while and was just telling there life story. I wish the book could have been a bit longer but like I said it was just great.
Rating:
Summary: nice
Review: this was a nice book from what i've been reading for the last year. we read it for our 9th grade english class and analyzed the heck outta it. ellen is a girl who spots phonies miles away, organizes her things to organize her life, but she is still a little girl in some ways. she goes through several homes, all that fail to completely provide for her needs, and comes to an unexpected ending. the book describes her journey from dysfunctional family to a real home.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Shmellen
Review: On behalf of Mrs. Dymond's ninth grade English class at GHS, I would like to say that Ellen Foster is the worst book ever. It continuously goes on about the horrors of Ellen's life and her horrible father and dead mother and how sad poor little pyschotic Ellen is. It has no point, it's sappy, and it's annoying. Our teacher made us read it and all the normal people hated it. DO NOT GET THIS BOOK WHATEVER YOU DO! Thank you.....
Rating:
Summary: Poignant and Gripping...
Review: Ellen Foster is a work of great magnitude. Kaye Gibbons has a real talent for telling this story through the eyes for poor Ellen Foster. Nothing is said very deliberately, however, the message is received. Ellen's life is a sad twist of one tragedy to the next. This is definitely not a light-hearted Southern novel. It is a gritty, tough read, but it is so well done, it is worthwhile. You will be unable to put this book down, however difficult it may be to read. This book definitely deserves your attention, and at the discounted price [it] is selling it for, I would highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: Ellen Foster is a wonderful book! Although it is relatively short and written in a simple manner, it is extremely moving and powerful. Kaye Gibbons (the author) wrote the book in first person format. The words come directly from the mind of an 11-year-old girl. There is little punctuation and a lot of dialect (which can make the text difficult to follow at times). However, this style adds to the setting and feeling of the book. Ellen is the girl in the story. She comes from a very dysfunctional family. Her mother is deceased, her father is abusive and she has a host of other family members who really do not care about her. In addition to this, she is exposed to poverty, drugs and alcohol. She has a black friend/acquaintance throughout the story (Starletta) whom Ellen thinks of as being dirty and having a terrible life. For most of the story Ellen does not realize that she actually has a worse life than Starletta. Through wit, courage and shear determination Ellen is able to get herself into a better living situation and position herself to have a much better life. In the end she realizes the friendship she has with Starletta and is able to put aside her thoughts of superiority. Although abuse and neglect occur all to frequently in today's life, few people have the strength and fortitude to overcome it as Ellen was able to do.
Rating:
Summary: This little girl is a survivor
Review: There is so much written in this short novel. It's a story of a young 5th grade girl that experiences absolutly too much abuse and ridicule in her life. The book, Ellen Foster, portrays a girl that is a survivor of neglect, alcoholism, and poverty. Ellen is a very strong child that witnesses racism and is inadvertantly a victim of the same. She doesn't succomb to selfpity, she is a tough cookie that focuses on her "new mama" and "foster" family.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It's a story told by Ellen using the language of an 11 year old telling her sad life story as she understands it.
I do recommend this book to all of my friends, it actually reminds me a lot of "White Oleander", another book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Novel
Review: Ellen Foster is the 11 year old girl in this story who is also narrating it. It is written completely from her point of view which gives us great depth into the mindset of this determined young girl. Ellen has to deal with an inordinate amount of tragedy in her life...her mother's passing, her father's brutality and abuse, family members who want nothing to do with her and in the midst of all of this, Ellen has to fight for her own life...a life free of fear and a place where she can call her own. Thanks to a kind teacher, a "foster family" and her one true friend Starletta, Ellen manages to find humour and a sense of identity. Her courage will remain with you long after you finish this book. I look forward to reading other works by this amazing author.
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