This sequel to Gibbons' beloved classic Ellen Foster, stands on its own as an unforgettable portrait of a redoubtable adolescent making herself up out of whole cloth. Now fifteen, Ellen is settled into a permanent home with a new mother. Strengthened by adversity and blessed with enough intelligence to design a salvation for herself, she still feels ill at ease in the world. Her sole surviving ritual --a visit to the county fair --takes on totemic importance. While she holds fast to the shreds of her childhood --humoring her best friend Stuart who is determined to marry her, protecting her old neighbor, slow-witted Starletta, she negotiates her way into a larger world --selling her poetry for money to pay her way to a camp for gifted students. With a singular mix of perspicacity, naiveté and compassion, Ellen draws us into her life and makes us fall in love with her all over again.
Reviews
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Those who fell in love with the spunky Ellen Foster will be happy to watch her turn another page in her life. Now 15, she is applying to Harvard and getting her troubled life in order with the help of her foster mother. With her thick South Carolina accent, Kaye Gibbons sounds much like Ellen might, with her quirky syntax and wild imagination, but the author is clearly not a trained reader. She speaks in a monotone that, albeit Southern, fails to differentiate one character from another. Narrative and characters flow together at the same level pace and tone, making it difficult for the reader to stay attentive. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
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