Pictures of Hollis Woods

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff is about a young girl in foster care. She was dropped off by her mother in the woods hours after she was born and has been running from every home she has ever lived in since. Her life is changed greatly when she moves in with the Regan family. Through drawing she is able to see her life and remember all the things that have happened to her. On her journey to find herself she also meets and rescues an elderly lady who Hollis bonds with immediately. This story is about a young girl finding herself and what she wants in life. She faces many trials that lead her to the place she wants to be the most.
    This book was very slow at first and hard for me to get into but after I got the feel for the format of the book I was hooked! The descriptions in the book about Hollis, her friends, and the places she draws gets you captivated and brings her world to life. I loved reading about the experiences Hollis went through and seeing her growth from those experiences. As a future educator it really opened my eyes to why some students act the way they do. Sometimes we need to step back and look at the life our students have had and let them know we care about them instead of ridiculing and punishing them. We need to embrace their strengths and find a way to let their talents shine through their school work.
    I think this would be a great book to use as a read aloud for third grade and up. The experiences and feelings in the story will prompt great discussions and get children thinking. This book will also open students' eyes to understand some of their peers a little more clearly. There are many great passages in the book that teachers can use to demonstrate visualizing to their students as a comprehension strategy and then have the students do on their own. Third graders and older students will be able to read this story on their own. The content and text is developmentally appropriate for those age levels and either gender will enjoy reading this book. I would definitely have this book in my classroom library and I would even make a special point to talk about it with my students to spark their interest in the book to read on their own if I was unable to use it as a read aloud.