Pictures of Hollis Woods
 |
|
| Author | Patricia Reilly Giff |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | no pictures |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Realistic fiction |
| Publisher | [Random House Children's Books] |
|
Publication date
|
2002 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 176 |
| ISBN | |
Pictures of Hollis Woods is a 2002 young adult novel by Patricia Reilly Giff. The novel received a Newbery Honor Award in 2003. It was adapted for television in 2007.
Pictures of Hollis Woods is the story of an 11-year-old orphan girl (Hollis Woods) who has been moved to countless foster families during her life. She was originally abandoned at birth by her mother in a local park, with a scrap of paper instructing that she be named after the park-- Holliswoods. Her current foster home is with an older, kindly lady named Josie, who treats Hollis with love but is beginning to lose her memory and independence. Hollis realizes quickly that despite Josie's good intentions, she is unable to care for Hollis as a guardian should, forgetting to take Hollis to school and to buy groceries. Hollis fears returning to the home of a former foster mother who she calls "the stucco woman", where she is neglected and mistreated. She knows that if Josie's forgetfulness is discovered, her social worker will send Hollis to another foster home. When she is confronted by the social worker, who attempts to scrutinize Josie's care, Hollis convinces Josie that they need to leave town.
Hollis' story is also punctuated by flashbacks to her penultimate foster home, with a family called the Regans. The father, whom Hollis calls Old Man, and the mother, whom Hollis calls Izzy, are extremely kind and welcoming to Hollis, even despite her standoffish exterior due to such frequent relocation. Old Man and Izzy both care for Hollis deeply, nurturing her love for drawing through gifts and praise of her ability. The Regans also have a son named Steven, who Hollis becomes close friends with during the summer that she lives with them in their summer home, Branches. Branches is in the mountains, and has a lake and woods where Hollis and Steven explore. Hollis insists that she is determined to someday climb the mountain nearest them, which Steven dismisses, saying it's too tall and dangerous due to frequent mudslides.
After this extremely happy summer, the Regans ask Hollis if they can adopt her. Hollis is overwhelmed and agrees, feeling loved and accepted into a family for the first time in her life. She secretly leaves the house the next day to climb the mountain, a final celebratory gesture before she becomes a part of the family. However, her journey takes longer than she expected, and she ends up climbing down the mountain in darkness, falling and hurting herself. Fortunately, Steven remembered her plan to climb the mountain and drives the family truck up to find her. They begin to descend the mountain in the truck, but the darkness and slipperiness of the path causes Steven to lose control and crash, injuring himself. Hollis panics, and it is later revealed that even though Steven is fine, she refuses to join the Regan family, believing that she was responsible for his injury and that she doesn't belong with the Regans. The Regans, though heartbroken, accept her decision, causing her to be removed from their home and to be relocated to Josie's.
...
Wikipedia