Very good, a quick read. A powerful novel - you can't help but feel bad for Ellen and root for this courageous, determined and brave young girl.

This would make a great book club pick. It’s a quick read and simply told, but with a lot of depth, and a powerful opening line that is a real attention grabber. Ellen Foster is only 11 years old but is an “old soul” and there is a lot to be learned from her character. The story is told through her voice and the author really gets into her head giving a sense for all she is thinking and feeling. I felt it softened the tone coming from her perspective, but it really makes you think about the lifelong effects of child abuse. I normally have a hard time reading about this topic because I find it so distressing but Ellen’s character is so charming and feisty that it was hard not to root for her in her search for a “new mama”. Naturally there is sadness, but it’s ultimately an uplifting story about finding strength through adversity. I found it particularly touching how she came about the name of Ellen Foster. 4 stars.

Or at all. This should not be a thing.

Neglect. Poverty. Abuse. Racism. This novel spotlights the cruel reality of Ellen Foster’s tortuous childhood. Gibbons writes with frank and unashamedly truthful prose – Ellen’s enduring spirit, her will to exhume herself from her horrific circumstances infuses every page. The protagonist’s voice is clear and true throughout as she navigates seemingly insurmountable hardships in a cruel adult world. At times comic, at times woefully tragic, Ellen’s eternal optimism and sheer self determination keeps her head and heart above water. No one has had a hard life until they have known Ellen Foster.

«Así que ¿qué se hace cuando todo empieza a dar vueltas y no puedes agarrarte y parar? Te quedas todo lo quieta que puedes y dices fuerte y alto que pare de dar vueltas el círculo para poder alejarte del ruido. Y eso es lo que hice entonces.»

A tragic child sho manages to survive her childhood.

Ellen Foster is a very depressing book. The book consist of many present time and flashback situations. At first it can be very confusing. Sometimes i became frustrated with the book and stopped reading because i did not understand it, and moments later i would come back and finish it. As a young child, Ellen went through many harsh situations. She had to take care of her mother and father, and she was disliked by her whole family. Both of her parents died, and she was blamed for it. She was than sent to her grandmothers house, but her grandmother did not like her. After her grandmother died, she was once again forced to believe she killed them. The worst part is that she experienced the death of all three of her closest siblings. Later, she was placed in a foster home, which inspired her to change her lat name.
I would recommend this book to people who are feeling depressed. This book shows how some peoples life can be very hard and low. It might also be sad at times, but it will bring he or she whom is depressed up because he or she will know that Ellen's life is harder. This book i personally did not like, but many people with different interests than me will aprriciate it.

Ellen Foster was the first book that the author, Kaye Gibbons, wrote. It was honored with several awards. And, it was also an Oprah Winfrey selection for her Book Club. The story is told through the eyes of the brave and resourceful 9 year old, Ellen, who we first meet in her journey through 2 years of a rather unsettled home and family life. Ellen, being all of 9 years old had experienced family life through her own home experiences , as well as the home life of her close friend, Starletta. The story takes place in the late 70’s and early 80’s, where anti-Black racism exists. Ellen’s friendship with Starletta and her family, I feel is of great significance in Ellen’s personal journey of survival in her world. When Ellen’s mother dies under questionable circumstances, and her father is no longer safe, Ellen begins her journey to survive. I mentioned that she was resourceful. In this case she knew what the daily necessities were in order for her to have as normal a life as she could manage. This came with repeated changes in her home environment, as she moved in with relatives for as long as possible. When it was no longer working where she was, she moved on. Here friendship with Starletta was most relevant, in my opinion, at this time as she managed to keep herself safe and cared for within reason, despite her earlier hesitance to be comfortable in the home of her friend. Gibbons does a good job of keeping the story believable, as I understand that parts of this story were autobiographical. In the end, that leaves the reader with something to think about.

An incredible little gem this book was! This book has successfully done something many books try to replicate from another book and have failed miserably in doing so. It had an AMAZING voice to it. Ellen Foster is more reminiscent of Holden Caulfield from "The Catcher in the Rye" than a lot of the characters that try SO hard to be the next Holden Caulfield. While this book definitely is influenced by "The Catcher in the Rye," the voices are very different and they tell very different stories. Ellen Foster's life is much more based around abuse and struggle more than Holden's life is. However, the sarcastic and pessimistic tone we know and love from Holden is here with Ellen Foster. Kaye Gibbons has written a beautiful yet terrifying coming of age story that I thought I would never see again. The ending of this book was a little too open for its own good. I think that about 10 more pages of closure would have benefited this book IMMENSELY. Even with that, I still loved "Ellen Foster" as a whole. It has a certain voice to it that I feel like many authors fail at doing. If you loved books like "The Catcher in the Rye," or Ottessa Moshfegh's "Eileen," this is the perfect book for you. I loved those two books with all of my heart and I certainly loved this one, too!

I am giving this one a 4 out of 5 stars.

Ellen Foster, the child and narrator of this novel, is a wonderful creation. She is everything that an adult would like to believe about an abused child being able to flourish once free. The author makes it believable that Ellen, at eleven, twelve and thirteen, has the clarity of mind and freedom from emotion to recount her traumatizing life with full memory, matter-of-factness and an outstanding world view.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the plucky young fictional Ellen. I loved the insight that the author gave Ellen, in her quest for a better life. However, I know it is a fabrication, wishful thinking....

Abused kids don't think. Abused kids don't really feel. Abused kids watch. They are taught to never remember abuse, because they wouldn't survive it. They are the helpers, the uneasy kids, the ones who have no idea how to deal with bullies - unless they choose to emulate a parent, which means broadcasting and home will be even a greater hell. Abused kids would not arrive at the level of global understanding that Ellen Foster does by the end of the novel, if she's lucky, until she is at least thirty and more likely fifty. I know.

There is truth in the father, "More like a mean baby than a grown man. ...All the time I knew he was evil and I did not have the proof." And the grandmother, who takes her in, is monstrous: "Her power was the sucking kind that takes your good sense and leaves you limp like a zombie." Fabulous descriptions.

However, my favourite part of the novel revolves around Ellen deciding that she will choose her own new name. Her psychologist doesn't understand and talks about "identity", which makes no sense at the time. But Ellen actually had spotted the woman she wanted as a new mother (not ever possible in real life) at church. Surrounded by children, as she stood there Ellen asked her cousin about this lady's name. "She said they are the Foster family and that lady would take in anything from orphans to stray cats." I chuckled.

Ellen Foster is the abused Pippi Longstocking of the South, an adorable quirky confabulation who overcomes difficulty, circumvents evil and triumphs in developing tender and enlightened compassion for her Black friend, whom she understands will always have a hard life. It's a lovely tale and even though it is a far-fetched representative of the life of an abused kid, I still enjoyed it.

"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy."

Ellen Foster grabs you with that first paragraph, and doesn't let go as she narrates her story. Told with humor and honesty, the orphaned girl learns what is important about people in a rural southern town in the 1970s. It's not possessions or the color of their skin, but the goodness in their hearts.

Even though Ellen's childhood has been terribly difficult, she finally finds herself in a good, safe situation. She realizes that her black friend Starletta has even more to overcome, since racial prejudices do not change quickly.

This slim volume about a self-reliant eleven-year-old packs quite a punch. The book is semi-autobiographical, based on Kaye Gibbons' challenging childhood in North Carolina.

Interesting interview of Kaye Gibbons by the Star Tribune. It does contain some spoilers since she talks about her childhood.
http://www.startribune.com/entertainm...

If you are looking for a book to take your breath away, this is the one.

If you are looking for an exceptionally well-written novel wherein each phrase, each sentence, each paragraph contains poetic beauty, then this is the one.

If you are looking for a book that resonates deep within your soul, leaving you laughing, crying and simply not wanting it to end, then this is the book to read.

And, I'll go out on a huge limb to say that if you choose to read only one of my recommendations this year, please let this be the one!

Oh, my, this book is so incredibly powerful that I don't know enough superlative adjectives to describe it.

In my opinion, the 1987 debut of Gibbons is analogous to the beauty, poetry, and charm of Harper Lee's one and only Pulitzer Prize winning book To Kill a Mockingbird.

While the difficult topics of neglect, abuse, abandonment, poverty, the definition of values, and the searing problem of abiding inherited prejudice would be dark, dramatically depressing topics, in the hands of a skilled author, the reader is left with hope, with a love of the character and with the sure conviction that as humans, we are quite capable of overcoming terrible adversity.

Immediately upon reading the first sentence "When I was young, I would think of ways to kill my daddy.", the reader is hooked. Then, the author brilliantly follows through by telling the story of spunky, precocious, wise beyond her years, ten-year old Ellen Foster.

We follow Ellen through the suicide of her mother, the beatings and emotional abuse of her father, the relatives who did not want her and the trials of moving from one place to another.

The true beauty of the story is that of hope, courage and wisdom.

Ellen has one true friend, a lonely "colored" girl called Starletta. It is through this relationship that Gibbons weaves the negative power of prejudice, and the positive ability to overcome what was taught vs what is true.

Read this book and weep, and cry and laugh and smile and come away knowing you will be haunted by the beauty for a long, long time.