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Summary: Simple but Captivating
Review: This short, simple but superbly written novel of an unloved and uncared for child pulled at my heartstrings. This child's tale of abuse and neglect, whilst a work of fiction, is probably all too frequent an occurence in reality. But Ellen has an inner strength that many of us might find hard to achieve even in adulthood. This is a story well worth the read.
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Summary: Lost Interest
Review: I read Ellen Foster over the summer for my English honors class.The first sentence really caught my eye,"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy." I said to myself, "now why would anyone want to do that?" So that's how my interest started in this book. I began to really like it because it wasn't about this happy family that always gets along. That type of a family that you read about; that always has a smile on their face and eveyone says how they feel because they're so open with one another. That is so overrated and cliche`.This book was raw and Elenn told it like it is. Not all families are great and get along, infact every family has something wrong with it. It may be something small or it can be something that's a real issue. In Ellen's case it was a big issue, a father that didn't care for her and mollested her and a mother who was sick and died. I don't know how Ellen seemed to get over it so quickly, I would have gone crazy. I guess the years of abuse that her father inflicted on her and her mother made her strong. Or maybe she just is totally numb toward the whole thing and she doesn't know how to feel. The southern dialect did confuse me a little, like " I didn't know her good and she caused a knot in me just thinking about it." Just little things like not using qoutes or commas. Sometimes I would get a little confused if there was more than one person talking then I would't know who was who. This made me frustrated and I didn't want to read the book knowing that I would be easily confused if Ellen didn't state who she was talking to. I would then have to go back, re-read it and then I can go on reading normally until I bacame confused once again by a sentence with little or no punctuation except a period. So overall, this was a pretty decent book. I liked that it was very real, but towards the end I lost interest.
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Summary: Makes you think...
Review: I just finished reading this book. At first I was very stand-offis about reading this book because it was featured on Oprah and Oprah is all for self help etc so when it was on summer reading I almost decided on something else, but I decided to get it since it was at the store when I went. i'm glad I read it because it made me realize how lucky I am for the life I live. If I had to live with an emotionally abusive father, or an overbareing spiteful grandmother I'd would never have been able to live with myself as well as she did. She got through it with poise and she held her own, because there was no other road except defeat. She's a strong character and I would recommend this book.
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Summary: HANG IN THERE, ELLEN
Review: In ELLEN FOSTER, author Kaye Gibbons becomes 11-year old Ellen in the first-person voice. All of her thoughts, emotions and circumstances are described in vivid detail. Although this story is heartwrenching, it is easy for us to understand Ellen as she goes through her trials and hardships.Young Ellen, who is grieving her recently-deceased mother and hating her alcoholic father, has taken the last name, "Foster," because she wants to go and live with a happy family of foster children who reside in her town. When Ellen gladly leaves her father, she is shuffled between relatives; an aunt who doesn't want her, a bitter and abusive grandmother, and an aunt and cousin who want to make her feel like a burden. Her only respite through this time is a kind teacher with whom Ellen lives until the teacher has to move out of town. Through it all, Ellen knows, deep down inside, that she's OK. She has developed survival skills. She's determined to be a good person. But she needs a break. Now if only she can become a part of that "foster" family, she knows she'll be loved and that she'll belong. ELLEN FOSTER is excellent study into the mind of a displaced child. It's also a true, but ugly, statement of how some adults treat these children.
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Summary: This is a cool book!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. As a 9th grade student at The Atlanta Girls' School, I read this book for a class and I really liked it. The book was about a girl who has a hard life and makes it through her whole life trying to make it better, and eventually does but with a hard struggle. I think that the book is very well written and is very smooth reading material. The book is not choppy! I would recommend it!
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Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: Ellen Foster is an undeniably captivating book that touches on many issues such as love, acceptance,racial relations, family, and identity. This book is strategically written and will make the reader reflect and ponder matters, even after finishing the reading. I enjoyed reading Ellen Foster immensely and would recommend it to anyone. This book is a coming of age story about a resilient eleven-year-old girl, Ellen Foster. The experiences she engages in are definitely not typical for a girl of her age: her parents and grandmother die in the story, she is poverty stricken, and abused. As a result, Ellen is forced to mature faster. She pays bills, goes grocery shops, and even reads "older" books in school, claiming, "I can hardly tolerate the stories we read for school. Cindy or Lou with the dog or cat." Ellen is also on a constant search for a home and family after her immediate family falls apart. When she finally finds a home with her teacher, she is taken away by the court and sent to live with her Grandmother, a bitter and heartless woman. Ellen's childhood seems to be full of these ups and downs such as this, but she always seems to make the best of the situation. Given the misfortunes in her childhood, her strength and independence really shine through, leaving the reader with hope and inspiration. Ellen Foster is also a book about social tribulations in our society. Set in the time of the civil rights movement, Ellen's character and her identity move with the movement. In the beginning of the novel, it is apparent that her family and society as a whole has an affect on how she views colored people. Even though her best friend, Starletta, is a black girl, Ellen still thinks of her as "dirty." She says, "As fond as I am of all three of them [Starletta and her parents] I do not think I could drink after them. I try to see what Starletta leaves on the lip of the bottle but I have never I try to see what Starletta leaves on the lip of the bottle but I have never seen anything with the naked eye." Ellen is ignorant and naïve^×a product of the society's prejudices. It is as if she takes what others say for granted. Later, though, she realizes that skin color does not matter and even says she would lick the glass Starletta drank from to prove her fondness towards her friend. Kaye Gibbons really captivates readers through the child narration style she writes in. Writing in this manner, with no commas, no quotations, gives the reader a sense of what and how Ellen is feeling and thinking. Gibbons uses this writing style and first person narration to focus more on how Ellen handles her situations through humor, instead of dwelling in misery and self-pity. The style of writing is almost in a stream of consciousness, especially because of the frequent switching of times- past and present. The best thing about this book is that you can actually "see" and experience first hand the transformation of Ellen's character with each encounter and event that takes place. I thought towards the end of the book, she even started to speak in an "older" manner. Ellen describes situations in a manner so matter-of-fact and naïve that even the most controversial ones seem innocent. At times, I had to read in between the lines to grasp the severity of events. The main characters in this book were well developed, in spite of the book being a bit short. I found myself either really liking the characters, such as her "new mama" and Julie and Roy, or really disliking the characters, such as her "mama's mama" and her father. The opinions I formedare definitely biased because the book is written in first person point of view. Ellen's character has been likened to Huck Finn's in that both are written from a child's perspective and highlight racial relations. Ellen's best friend is Starletta, an African American girl, and Huck's friend is Jim, a runaway slave. Both Ellen and Huck also lack parental roles, which is clearly impacted in the way they think and the maturity they are forced into. Ellen Foster serves as a heroic character in this book. She has strength, courage, never seems to pity herself, independence, and a matter of fact way of talking. The revelation Ellen comes to at the end of the novel epitomize her understanding of the world, but moreover exemplifies her maturity and humility. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone. Ellen's spirit and innocent way of viewing the world never cease to amaze me, given the circumstances and traumatic experiences she goes through. She is truly an inspiration to us all.
Rating:
Summary: Ellen Foster
Review: There are many wonderful and many depressing parts of Ellen Foster. I really liked how strong Ellen was, and she never seemed to want to give up. It really inspired me because she had such a terrible life. After reading about Ellens life i noticed how blessed I am. Her life consisted of switching houses and loosing many family memebers, things that I am not familiar with.It was depressing when Ellens family was talked about becuase of what they put a young girl though. Ellen's father, was very abusive and put her and her mother throught alot. Also, Ellens grandmother and aunt blamed Ellen for her mothers death and made many cruel comments. I learned alot about life in this book and I enjoyed it very much.
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Summary: Ellen Foster... A great book with good morals
Review: In reading Ellen Foster, I feel that I have become a stronger person, because after reading it, I felt in a way ashmaned that I sometimes feel that I have a hard life. One of the main things I learned is never to give up. If you keep a goal in mind and keep searching for the answer you will without a doubt find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Just like in the book, Ellen kept moving from home-to-home and one day, she walked all the way to the Foster gome, and now she has a better life than ever. I think this is a great book and everyone should read it at sometime in their life!
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Summary: From A Virtuous Women to a Misunderstood Child
Review: Kaye Gibbons the author of A Virtuous Woman and Ellen Foster, expresses her feelings so well in these two books that she takes on the role of the two characters and it is like she lived through both experiences. In Ellen Foster, Gibbons portrays the image of an 11 year old girl who refers to her past self as "the old Ellen". In her quest to search for a perfect family far away from her own she realizes that money and possessions can't fill the void in her young heart. Without any family to call her own she turns to and away from many people. While doing this she sees how important race was back then. After she understands that her best friend in the whole world is black and it doesn't mean anything, her cloudy image of life starts to clear. Kaye Gibbons does a wonderful job in this book of taking on a task to see life through such young and naïve eyes.
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Summary: Original and powerful
Review: You know that there is something different about this book from the time you open it. Ellen's blunt statements and the oddly punctuated text leave an immediate impression on you. The book's heroine is a young, headstrong girl who boldly faces her rough life. From all around her, ideas are thrown at her regarding everything from racism to her own self-worth, and yet Ellen is strong enough to be able to analyze these ideas for herself rather than take them for granted, and that is one of the reasons that she survives the rough journey presented in this book. The book is written from Ellen's perspective and stays true to her at all times. It is sometimes hilarious, but without being demeaning to her at all. You develop a kind of fondness for her, her toughness, her innocence; as well as the other characters. This is an absolutely beautiful story. Some people find it sad but I don't think it is in the least. It is actually rather uplifting.
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