Saturday, December 22, 2007

January book ~ Pictures of Hollis Woods

Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff ~ 5 (45%)
Memory Keeper's Daughter, by Kim Edwards ~ 1 (9%)
In Lucia's Eyes, by Arthur Japin ~ 3 (27%)
Heart of Stone, by Renate Dorrestein ~ 1 (9%)
Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly ~ 1 (9%)

Votes (total): 11
Poll closed

In Pictures of Hollis Woods, a troublesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elderly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her. Publisher's Weekly says:

"Artistically talented Hollis Woods, age 12, has made a habit of running away from foster homes, but she's found a place on Long Island where she wants to stay for a while. She immediately bonds with Josie, her new guardian, who is a slightly eccentric, retired art teacher. Yet Hollis is far from content. She worries about Josie's increasing forgetfulness, and she sorely misses her last foster family, the Regans, whom she left under tense circumstances that are only gradually made clear. Giff intersperses tender scenes demonstrating Hollis's growing affection for Josie with memories of the Regans, whose images Hollis preserves in her sketchbook. Pictures of motherly Izzy Regan, her architect husband and their mischievous yet compassionate son, Steven, sensitively express the young artist's conception of a perfect family. As readers become intimately acquainted with Hollis, they will come to understand her fears, regrets and longings, and will root for her as she pursues her dream of finding a home where she belongs."

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
discuss ch. 1-5
discuss ch. 6-11
discuss ch. 12-17

5 comments:

Marg said...

I won't be able to participate in this one either, because the book isn't easily available to me. Maybe next time.

Shelley said...

I read the first chapter of this while my daughter was looking around in the bookstore and it sounds like it's going to be great!

Margreet said...

Like Marg, I won't participate either. It will cost me too much money for so few pages. And children's lit isn't on my wishlist.

alisonwonderland said...

i'm not going to get to Cold Comfort Farm ... just too much going on this month, i guess. but i've picked up Pictures of Hollis Woods from the library, and i'm looking forward to reading and discussing it.

Cristylite said...

I love Pictures of Hollis Woods. It is the best book ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!