Rating: 
Summary: Once Lost But Now Found
Review: "Ellen Foster" is a wonderful story. Not only does it take you on the journey of a little girl becoming a young woman but it completely changes your way of thinking. Poverty and terror has reined on this poor girls life and yet she only becomes stronger. Ellen suffers many losses that make her a strong, intellegent young woman in the end. Within the book we are shown reality through an abused and beaten little girl. She lives in a house with a drunken, abusive father, and a sickly, deprived, suicidale mother. Ellen takes care of herself and her family until tragedy strucks and she is set to sail her small life journey on the ocean of filth. Our world is cruel and this is what Ellen, as well as I, have learned from her experiences. She will take every world as a dollar and spend the treasure on her newly found life. The people she meets and the friends, or foes, she makes change her fate as she lives her life. Although she would not see it then, she will certainly see the outcome of the events that have altered her young world. Kaye Gibbons curses her readers to the reality we are all blinded by. We see the crime through the eyes of the victim and I will never be the same. I have been awaken from a dream that illistrates the world as perfect. This book really reveils the truth behind hiding children. Those who seem beautiful on the outside are painted with pain on the inside. This book is definately one that would not catch my eye in a pile of Stephen King suspense thrillers but after experiencing the hurt within this young child's life, I am delighted to have read this book. Gibbons has prepared a tasteful dish of delight and I would love to share the main dish with those who are willing to open their eyes and maybe even dare to try a little dessert.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD PLOT; POORLY WRITTEN
Review: I don't like to have to wade through a book, but I surely had to wade through Ellen Foster. Does lack of punctuation throughout (especially quotation marks) establish one as an author? Very confusing story. Incidentally, not by any stretch of the imagination can this be referred to as a "novel." It is barely 145 pages in length; I believe that constitutes a "novella." I read so many upbeat reviews about "Ellen Foster," I hurried to my local library to check it out. I have very gifted grandchildren, any one of who could have written this "booklet" so that it flowed for the reader. If this is the author's established style of writing, I do hope she isn't planning to afflict us with a second story. This was a good plot gone to waste.
Rating: 
Summary: The life of a disturbed child
Review: 'Ellen Foster' is a book written about the life of a young girl growing up in a world full of poverty and abuse from her drunken father. Her mother eventually gets fed up with her husbands torment and physical abuse, and over-doses on her heart medication, leading to a painless death. Ellen must grow up learning the hardships of being passed from her furious father to her kind-hearted teacher to her heartless grandmother and eventually to a new loving family where she finally reaches peace and contentment.The plot is very affective in this piece. Kaye Gibbons does a wonderful job of entrapping the reader in Ellen's life of detriment. She uses flashbacks to relate Ellen's newfound life to her old memories of pain and horror. For example, at the very beginning of the piece, Gibbons writes: "All I did was wish him dead real hard every now and then. And I can say for a fact that I am better off now than when he was alive. I live in a clean brick house and mostly I am left to myself. When I start to carry an odor I take a bath and folks tell me how sweet I look." This shows how she relates back to her past. Gibbons is also very good about setting the scene. I was able to really picture her life and where she lived. And the sybolism is extraordinary. Relating this story to my life was very easy. Her drunk father represented all the obstacles in my life and working in the fields as a slave represented how I have to really work hard to eventually get to where I want to be. It was very easy for me to see myself in this story. This book is not like any of the books I usually enjoy reading. It was very specific and to the point, and I loved that about it. It really let me see exactly where Ellen was coming from. This book was very good. I think that most people would enjoy it because it lets the reader make a metaphore from it. It's is also fairly short so it was very easy for me to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Ellen's Life
Review: The point of literature is to evoke the universal human emotions such as jubilation and depression. Therefore, a book's success is judged on the extent to which it can manipulate the reader's emotion. On that scale, Kaye Gibbons' book, Ellen Foster, soars off the charts. The book puts the neglected Ellen in the reader's conscience as she falls through life's pitfalls. Ellen is a preteen who was born into a home without a heart. The father was not sober long enough to tie his own shoes, but drunk enough to issue orders to his wife and daughter on a whim. Ellen's mother seems defies the 13th Amendment because she acts like little more than a drunkard's slave. However, the maternal side of Ellen's family tree is well off, but for an inexplicable reason Ellen is never accepted into their delicate world of two-edged swords. She learns from her experiences and grows into precocious child who can function as an adult if the situation requires it. For instance, she budgeted her father's household expenses as he fell asleep with a beer in his hand. Another adult symptom that she carries, is being materialistic. She looked down on her black friend's house because it lacked plumbing. However, the vital signs of being a child still beat. This is evident when her nominal racist tendencies dissipate and she turns into an open-minded youth. Also, she, like all little children, loves sleepovers and Christmas. Still even when she is acting like a child, she is thinking like an adult. This complex girl from the rural south in the post-hippie era faces in eleven years the rejection, death, and thankfulness that some people will never face in a lifetime. Still she perseveres the entire ordeal to find a home with a heart. She finds it in the most unlikely of places. This story will open your eyes to the world of abused children. This fiction tale seems to be non-fiction at times as it details the life of Ellen in "The System." Her first person account will grip anyone with a heart. This book is not aimed at any category of society accept the portion with eyes to read or ears to listen. Read this book. It will not disappoint you.
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Summary: Sheena's reveiw
Review: Ellen Foster is an incredibly well put together story. The way the author, Kaye Gibbons,pulls you into the story through the eyes of an eleven year old child is pure genius. In the begin of the story I was sucked straight in because of what Ellen is talking about, her family and all. This book is full of feelings from beggining to end. I love the way Kaye Gibbons decided not to use quotation marks. It gives the story more of an appeal in my opinion. This is definatley an unforgetable story. I do not think there could be an ounce of improvement made in Ellen Foster. This book was obviuosly well thought out and very well organized. I recomend this book to all readers. I personally can not pin point my favorite part, but if I had to, it would be when Ellen was visiting with her guidance counsoler. It is so cute when Ellen's counsoler asked her why she changed her name to Ellen Foster. She replies that it is because she now lives with the Foster family. She is confused because what she really means is that she is living with a foster family not the Foster family. That staement shows her young and innocent side. I give this book two thumbs up. Kaye Gibbons offers only the best to her readers.
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Summary: Tim's review
Review: Ellen Foster was a book that described the horrors that a young girl had to go through to get to a family that loved her. The book begins with Ellen, a young child, talking about her father's habitual drinking and her mother's failing health. The book alternates between past and present, and now and then, it is tough to figure out when Ellen is describing her current events, and when she is describing something that happened to her years ago. Ellen is a very creative girl who, despite her troubles, can find the fun in even the worst of situations. On one hand, she is extremely mature. On the other, she has a mind like a very small child. An example of this is shown when Ellen decorates her grandmother with flowers after she dies. Ellen thought that the prettier she was, the more chance she would have of getting into heaven. She is a courageous young girl who finally ends up in the hands of loving foster parents. The book is extremely well written, but is childlike in appearance as well. It is almost as if Ellen could have written the book herself. The lack of quotation marks leaves the reader to believe that she is telling the book as a story. All in all, I would recomend this book highly!
Rating:
Summary: Inside The Mind Of Ellen
Review: Have you ever read a book as though you were the main character of the novel? Not just through the words like I and me but also through the actual eyes of the character, being able to hear the characters thoughts and even read the story as though you were recalling it from the characters mind. I just got finished reading a novel named "Ellen Foster" which turned me inside out with this style of writing. At first reading this story was a challenge with the non-stop present to past reading. However, after getting over that conflict I was able to thoroughly get into this novel. Kaye Gibbons is a mastermind to be able to create such writing like no other author I have read before. Not only are you reading a story told by the author, it seems that you are reading a mind of a young child. Ellen Foster is a novel about a young abused child named Ellen who goes through hard times until she can find the right family for her. In the beginning of the novel she is with her natural abusive family in which her father is an alcoholic and her mother that later overdoses on pills. From that point Ellen goes from relative to relative being even more abused from tedious labor to excommunication. After three deaths, Ellen finally on Christmas day finds the family for which she will be able to live with, the "Foster" family. I believe the main point of this novel is to educate people about abusive situations in families and how a foster family could be the right solution. This piece of work is an incredible classic that should be on everyone's shelf at home no matter what age. I recommend this book to anyone who feels the need to read a novel of uniqueness.
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Summary: All the Impossible Shades of Grey
Review: Ellen Foster is a book whose true colors are not evident until the final sentence and even then they brightly dark shades still linger undisturbed. The book finds the compassion in each individual for the plight of a child who never truly had a childhood. From Ellen's first phrase of her recurring thoughts of killing her father the reader is hooked. Kaye Gibbons weaves a fabric incorporating many different ideas, from dealing with bereavement to the demands of a changing multi racial society with a great sense of compassion and without losing the sense of proportion. Stylistically she uses her lack of quotations marks to give the reader a sense that they are actually inside Ellen's mind seeing it as she would, but at the same time an omnipresent shadow. For a person whose attention span is described in centimeters, I was amazed at how fast I was enthralled in this book. After the first chapter which my English 3 Honors teacher read us ( Salutations Ms. Fuller!), I knew this would be an interesting book. Though painted in dark humor and shades of gray, Ellen's common sense and her drive to survive is inspiration to anyone. She showed that sometimes the best help comes from within. In times of turmoil for example, when her mother overdosed on drugs and died beside her, no one was there for "Old Ellen" but "Old Ellen" which aged her mentally as her body slowly caught up to her. The one thing that remained the same throughout the book was her friend, Starletta. Who happened to be black in a time when that was just recently being accepted. Though not even "Old Ellen" was immune from the social stereotypes that followed her times. In the beginning she would not even drink after Starletta for fear of germs. However, time, being the best teacher in the end sheds light on her mistakes. Though Ellen is passed from "family" to "family" when it is obvious that no one wants her there is one thing that never sways in the child, her determination to find a family. Although the book jumps from past to present the transition is made clear by the undertones in which Ellen speaks and sees things. For example it can go from her lying on her bed in her new mamma's house to working in the fields. Any way one views this book my opinion stays the same Kaye Gibbons has written a masterpiece. As I stated previously, I have a very short attention span, but this magnificent author had me riveted from start to finish and she is someone whose work I shall continue to follow. I recommend this book highly to anyone who is looking for something interesting to read. Ellen Foster is certainly worth the effort to find.
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Summary: A heart-warming story of a young girl's struggles
Review: This book is an uplifting and inspirational story of a young girl who overcomes many struggles in her life. After the tragic death of her mother, Ellen is left to face her abusive father all alone. At first, she stays with her father and tries to make it on her own. Later, however, when the situation becomes even worse, Ellen begins to search for a better option. It was a hard and long search, but after many disappointments she finally finds her way to a safe and loving home. By achieving her goal, Ellen shows us that anything is possible if we only put our mind to it. She is an inspiration to anyone who dreams of a better life. This book has to be one of the best I have read in a very long time. I had my doubts at first, considering it was assigned reading from a teacher, but it turned out to be an excellent book, and I will defiantly have to add it to my collection of favorites. It was, however, a rather difficult book to read because of the lack of quotation marks and jumps from the past to the present. Although this book was different from any other I have ever read, it is one filled with inspiration and emotion. I have to suggest that everyone read this book at least once in thir life, especially anyone who is, or knows anyone who is in a abusive situation. This book would be sure to fill them with hope for a better life, and show them that anyone, even the very young can do something to change their lives.
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Summary: Innocence-A Review of Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
Review: The story of Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons is a remarkable tale of a young girl torn from innocence by a drunken father and the corruptible thought that her mother's death was the result of her ignorance. The story starts with her mother's partial suicide. From there, Ellen goes through a roller coaster ride. From her art teachers home, a true pleasure for Ellen and their tight knit hippie family, the court awards custody of the young girl to her grandmother. In Ellen's grandmother's guardianship, she grows to understand and respect the black crop workers more than her own flesh and blood. The death of Ellen's grandmother left Ellen to fend for herself in the home of her Aunt and cousin. Ellen's ungrateful attitude led her to the banishment from that house also. Luckily, Ellen's dream family, the "Fosters," a women and group of well cared for girls that sit in the front row at church, signals as a safe haven for her. With all that has troubled the young girl, you truly want her to find peace and security. This, along with the way the author, Kaye Gibbons, portrays the innocent yet mature and unbelievably self-sufficient young Ellen makes this story a complex yet unforgettable tale of coming of age. Not only does Ellen have to learn to fend for herself in all maters that are important to her, she also grows to understand and make her stand about racial differences and stereotypes. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt lost or alone in this world. It proves that sometimes hope is the only thing that we have to hang on to.
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