Amazon link: www.amazon.com/Ellen-Foster-Kaye-Gibbons/
Ellen Foster is a book written by Kaye Gibbons and involves a young girl named Ellen whos mother dies and father is an abusive alcoholic. Once her father dies, Ellen is orphaned and is tossed from foster home to foster home, while she is hoping to achieve a new beginning and new identity. This book is similar to The Catcher in the Rye in many ways- through diction, word choice, plot and personal voice, Ellen is very similar to Holden. Gibbons' novel explores many complexities of Ellen's character but articulates them in a way that makes the audience believe these thoughts and emoitions are coming from an eleven year old girl. Overall, this book was enjoyable, and I would reccommend it to others in our class. Having read Catcher in the Rye prior to this book, I was able to make many connections and similarities that I would have otherwise overlooked.
-Kara
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Kara, my high school taught this novel with Catcher. What made you decide to read it? I have not read it, actually (my sophomore teacher didn't teach Catcher so I only read it on my own).
ReplyDeleteI liked Catcher so much that I thought reading Ellen Foster would not only be enjoyable but a perfect opportunity for me to make connections between the two novels in a relaxed and unstructured setting. And I was right...I made many connections but I didn't feel the pressure to mark every single one because it was just independent reading and I wasnt required to write a thesis paper afterward. I also found connections to some of the other texts we have studied this year as well, such as Self Reliance and The Scarlet Letter.
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