Plot summary

Gilly Hopkins is going to yet another foster home in Thompson Park, Maryland, with her social worker, Miss Ellis. At 11 years of age, she has spent the better part of her life being bounced from one set of foster parents to the next. While Gilly is extremely bright, famous for being brash and self-reliant, she is also bitter, angry and cynical from years of repeated abandonment and rejection. She fiercely clings to the idea that her birth mother, Courtney Rutherford Hopkins, a flower child

Flower child

Flower child originated as a synonym for hippie, especially the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and environs during the 1967 Summer of Love. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute flowers or floral-themed decorations to symbolize altruistic ideals of...

, loves her and will return to care for her someday.

At first, Gilly loathes her new foster mother, Maime Trotter, as much as the previous ones. Trotter refuses to bow to Gilly's manipulative tactics, forcing her to become a functioning member of the household. Gilly's only pleasure is in bullying the other foster child in the home, a skittish seven year old boy named William Ernest Teague. While learning to live with Trotter and William Ernest, Gilly must also confront her own issues with racism: she dislikes being around African-American people, but both her teacher, Miss Harris, and Trotter's closest friend, a blind man name Mr. Randolph, are African American.

While living at the Trotter home, Gilly initially gets into trouble as usual, scuffling with other students at school and leaving a racist and rude homemade card for her teacher. The only student at school who tries to strike up a friendship with her is a loathsome girl named Agnes Stokes, who follows Gilly around in spite of her constant insults.

Gilly quickly hatches two plans to escape. She learns that her mother is in San Francisco after Courtney sends her a postcard with a return address, and writes her a scathing letter about the foster home, pleading to be rescued. While visiting Mr. Randolph's personal library, she discovers that the old man has a cache of money hidden in his bookshelf. She manages to pilfer a significant amount of money and tries to use it to purchase a bus ticket to San Francisco, but is picked up by the police because she wants to leave ASAP and won't wait. She only decides to return to Trotter's house when William Ernest pleads with her to come home. In spite of her desire to leave, Gilly eventually discovers she actually likes her new foster family and teacher. She makes a friendship with William Ernest and begins teaching him how to read and defend himself against bullies; she also reads Mr. Randolph books from his large library. In school, Gilly comes to an understanding with Miss Harris and begins to excel in her school studies. Once, Gilly calls Mrs.Trotter her mother, Willam Earnest her brother, and Mr. Randolph her uncle.

Just as Gilly settles into her new life, she is uprooted once again. Courtney has received Gilly's letter, and has requested that the state relinquish custody of Gilly to her biological grandmother. Gilly requests to stay with Trotter, but the matter is out of her hands, and she is taken to Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 to live with her grandmother, who wishes to be called Nonnie.

Gilly bonds with Nonnie and tries to adapt to her new environment. When she learns that her mother is coming to Virginia for Christmas, she is excited because she believes that her longtime dream of a reunion is coming true. Courtney arrives, but Gilly is shattered because she immediately learns that her mother isn't going to stay in Virginia or take her back to San Francisco, she didn't even want to come for the holidays, and she only consented to visit because Nonnie paid for her ticket. After calling Trotter one last time and begging to go back, Gilly finally accepts her new home. Gilly is heartbroken and upset, but decides she will cope with the situation, just to make Trotter proud.

Characters

• Galadriel "Gilly" Hopkins is the title character of the story. She is described as being 11 years old, with blonde hair and an unkempt appearance. She does not care for her given name, Galadriel, (from the Lord of the Rings books) and prefers to be called "Gilly." Gilly has spent most of her life in foster care
  Foster care
  Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
  
  , being sent from one home to another. She is extremely brilliant or smart and creative, but is 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 racism.

• Maime M. Trotter, called "Trotter," is Gilly's new foster mother. She is a large woman who wears glasses and lives in a messy, albeit large, 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.

• Ms. Ellis is Gilly's social worker. She has known Gilly for some time, and has shuttled her back and forth to various foster home

• Mr. Randolph is Maime Trotter's next-door neighbour. He is a blind African-American man, 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
  Flower child
  Flower child originated as a synonym for hippie, especially the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and environs during the 1967 Summer of Love. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute flowers or floral-themed decorations to symbolize altruistic ideals of...
  
  , has not seen or lived with her daughter for most of her life and couldn't or didn't do anything about it. Gilly's most prized possession is an old photograph of her mother which has been inscribed to her. She was paid to see Gilly and goes back without 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
  Vietnam War
  The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
  
  .

• 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. She is African-American and 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.

Awards and nominations

Gilly Hopkins has won several major accolades, including the 1979 National Book Award

National Book Award

The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...

 for Children's Literature, a 1979 [Christopher Award], the 1979 Jane Addams Award and a 1979 Newbery Honor. It has additionally won several state awards across the United States, including the 1981 Georgia Children's Book Award and the 1981 Garden State Children's Book Award. The book has also appeared on many lists of honor, including the 1978 ALA Notable Children's Book List, The Horn Books 1978 Honor List and SLJ's The Best of the Best Children's Books: 1966-1978.

Criticism

Because of its subject matter and the language and conduct of the title character, The Great Gilly Hopkins has been the subject of controversy. It is frequently banned from libraries across the U.S., particularly in schools,, and was ranked #20 on the American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books for 1990-2000.