Friday, August 7, 2009

Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff

"This can be a new start, Hollis. A new place." She licked her fingers and scratched at the mustard stain. "No one knows you. You can be different, you can be good, know what I mean?"

Maybe she gave this speech to every foster kid in every driveway as she dumped them off like the UPS guy dumping off packages on a busy day, but I didn't think so. I had looked into her eyes once, just the quickest look, and I had seen that she felt sorry for me, that she didn't know what to do with me. Too bad for you, mustard woman.

Hollis Woods is almost 12 when the book begins and has been in the foster care system her entire life. Called a “mountain of trouble” by one of her foster caretakers, Hollis is tough because she doesn’t know how to be anything else. But underneath all her prickles, Hollis has a tender heart. She’s never stayed at any place too long (she frequently runs away) but really wants a family more than anything. Hollis is living with Josie Cahill at the beginning of the book, an eccentric, retired art teacher who lovingly pulls Hollis under her wing and whom Hollis trusts completely.

Hollis is also an artist who has a natural talent for drawing. She has a series of pictures that she drew the summer before. They serve as flashbacks to when she was living with the Regan family in Branches, New York. The Regan’s wanted to adopt Hollis and Hollis had never been happier until a tragic accident happened and Hollis let her fears take over, blamed herself, and ran.

While living with Josie, the social worker tells Hollis that the agency will be moving her again when it becomes obvious that Josie frequently forgets things and cannot take care of Hollis. In order to not be separated from her, Hollis runs one more time and takes Josie with her. It’s hard not to fall in love with Hollis and to hurt for her as she tries work through what happened with the Reagan’s last summer. For those of you who like to listen to books-on-cd while driving etc, check your local library to see if they have Pictuers of Hollis Woods on cd read by Hope Davis, who does a fantastic job reading the story.