The Great Gilly Hopkins

The Great Gilly Hopkins

Front cover in Hard and paper
Author	Katherine Paterson
Country	United States
Genre	Children's novel
Publisher	Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
Publication date	March 28, 1978
Media type	Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages	148 pp. (first edition)[1]
ISBN	978-0064402019
OCLC	3542211
LC Class	PZ7.P273 Gr[1]

The Great Gilly Hopkins is a realistic children's novel by Katherine Paterson. It was published by Crowell in 1978 and it won the U.S. National Book Award next year.^[2] In 2012 it was ranked number 63 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal – the third of three books by Paterson in the top 100.^[3]

A film adaptation starring Sophie Nélisse as Gilly Hopkins and Kathy Bates as Trotter was released in 2015.^[4]

The novel has been translated into Catalan, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, and Swedish,^[5][6] and Árpád Göncz’s Hungarian translation has been adapted into a radio play.^[7]

Plot summary

Galadriel "Gilly" Hopkins is a mean, 11 year-old brash young girl who is headed for yet another foster home. She hates living with different people all the time and just wants to settle in with her birth mother, Courtney Rutherford Hopkins, whose photograph Gilly secretly treasures. Gilly doesn't like the look of her new foster mom, Trotter, a "fat hippo", and decides she is going to hate her for the rest of her life.

Gilly hatches a plan to escape from Trotter, and steals the money she needs for it to work. She knows that her mother lives in San Francisco, so she writes a letter to Courtney saying that her beloved Galadriel will be with her soon. When Gilly escapes the first time, she gets caught by police and Trotter immediately comes down to the station to retrieve her. Gilly's grandmother, Nonnie, comes to Trotter's house and tells her that she will take Gilly home. Nonnie was previously unaware that she had a granddaughter. But now Gilly realizes that she really wants to be with Trotter. However, the law says that Gilly must go with Nonnie, so she goes to Nonnie's house.

Then Gilly gets good news: her mother is coming. But when she goes to the airport, Courtney is not the woman in Gilly's photograph: she has become fat, with stringy hair and a lot of other traits Gilly didn't expect. Gilly also finds out that her mother only came because Nonnie paid her, not because she wanted to come. She realizes for the first time how foolish she has been and that she loves Trotter. The story ends with Gilly on the phone, crying to Trotter to take her back. Trotter, in turn, gently convinces her that her home is with Nonnie. So Gilly realizes that Nonnie's house is her home.

Characters

• Galadriel "Gilly" Hopkins, the title character of the story, is 12 years old, with straw-colored hair and an unkempt appearance. She does not care for her given name, Galadriel (after Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings), and prefers to be called "Gilly". Gilly has spent most of her life in foster care, being sent from one home to another. She is brilliant and creative, but also very bitter, angry and completely unmanageable after years of rejection at the hands of her various foster parents. Later in the book Gilly shows signs of caring for her new foster family, the Trotters.
• Maime M. Trotter, called "Trotter", is Gilly's new foster mother. She is a large woman who wears glasses and lives in a messy, small and tight spaced house. Trotter is said to be one of the foster care system's most respected caregivers.
• William Ernest Teague is Gilly's foster brother at Trotter's home. He is seven years old, with brown hair and glasses, and has a nervous disposition. When people make sudden movements around him he often ducks, as if he is expecting to be hit. Gilly initially enjoys tormenting William Ernest, but eventually grows to like him and helps him with his reading. She also helps teach him to defend himself from mean bullies. Gilly sometimes calls him W.E.
• Ms. Ellis is Gilly's social worker. She has known Gilly for some time, and has shuttled her back and forth to various foster homes.
• Mr. Randolph is Maime Trotter's next-door neighbor. He is blind, and lives alone in a house with an impressive library of books. Mr. Randolph is good friends with Trotter, and joins her every night for supper. One of Gilly's jobs at Trotter's home is to escort Mr. Randolph to and from his house.
• Courtney Rutherford Hopkins is Gilly's biological mother. She is a former flower child, has not seen or lived with her daughter for most of her life and couldn't or didn't do anything about it, although she does send Gilly an occasional postcard. Gilly's most prized possession is an old photograph of her mother which has been inscribed to her.
• Nonnie Hopkins is Gilly's maternal grandmother and Courtney's mother. She is not aware of Gilly's existence until Courtney writes to her, asking her to assume custody. Her other child, Chadwell, died while serving in the Vietnam War.
• Agnes Stokes is a girl at Gilly's school. She comes from a troubled background herself, having been abandoned by both of her parents, and lives with her grandmother. She hangs around Gilly and tries to win her friendship. Gilly dislikes her, but uses her to help steal Mr. Randolph's money.
• Miss Barbara Harris is Gilly's sixth-grade teacher. Initially Gilly has a very difficult time interacting with her. Eventually, she learns to like Miss Harris and begins to do well in school. After she moves to Virginia, Gilly remains in contact with Miss Harris, writing to her to discuss the Lord of the Rings books. Miss Harris says that she and Gilly are very much alike, because of their angry nature.
• "Mr. Melvin Trotter" is Maime's late husband.

Awards and nominations

Gilly Hopkins has won several major accolades, including the 1979 National Book Award in category Children's Literature,^[2] a 1979 Christopher Award, the 1979 Jane Addams Award and a 1979 Newbery Honor. It has also won several U.S. state awards including the 1981 Georgia Children's Books: 1966–1978.

Film adaptation

On February 8, 2013, it was announced that Stephen Herek would direct a film adaptation of the book, with Kathy Bates as Trotter and Danny Glover in major roles.^[8] On February 6, 2014, Sophie Nélisse as Gilly Hopkins, Glenn Close and Octavia Spencer joined the cast of the film.^[9] On May 9, 2014, Julia Stiles and Bill Cobbs joined the cast of the film.^[10] Principal photography began on April 9, 2014, and ended on June 15, 2014.^[11][12]

As of October 2015 the film is scheduled for release February 19, 2016.^[4]

Stage adaptation

The novel was adapted as a children's stage musical in 1996 and is available for licensing through Samuel French. ^[13]

References