First published 2015
Gilly Hopkins has bounced between foster families her whole life, and she plans to keep it that way. The eleven-year-old has perfected her reputation as brilliant, brash, and impossible to handle. When social services places her with the Trotters, the oddest family she's encountered yet, Gilly sees another temporary stop before her inevitable exit. She puts her sharp intellect to work crafting an elaborate plan to contact her real mother and orchestrate a rescue. But Gilly's scheme backfires in ways she never anticipated. As her carefully laid plans crumble, she must confront what she actually wants versus what she thought she needed. Paterson explores the complex emotions of a child caught between survival instincts and the deep human need for belonging.
Genres: fiction, family-life, contemporary, adoption
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
256 pages · Paperback · HarperCollins