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Rating:  Summary: A portrait of an orphan... Review: Hollis Woods is an artist. She's only 11, but she has the gift to draw magnificent works of art. What Hollis doesn't have is a family--she was left on a corner when she was just a baby, and now she bounces from home to home, unable to stay for a long period of time. Once she realizes she's had enough of one foster family, or woman, she packs up her things and runs away for a few days. This pattern continues until she goes to stay with the Reagan family one summer. Suddenly she finds the family she's always dreamed about, and they are excited to adopt her. But Hollis can't quite accept that they truly want her, especially after she causes an accident, so she runs away again. Giff has created a marvelous book of characters--the social worker, for example, that keeps placing Hollis is a despicable character. You feel it from the start when she spills mustard on herself, though I didn't realize you're supposed to think of her this way until half way through the book, when she spills coffee on herself. Hollis grows a bit through the book, enough to be realistic. The Reagan family is a good family, but not without their struggles. The format is not anything new--the current story is peppered with flashbacks, but it works for this tale. The story itself is plausible, even heartwarming (I was pleased to see a happy ending), and I believe it is the characterization that pushed it up to win a Newbery Honor.
Rating:  Summary: Pretty Good Review: I liked this book, it was pretty good. I really like the imagery used by the author. With every chapter you could picture everything happen. I couldn't really relate to the book, but i liked it anyway.
Rating:  Summary: A story from another perspective Review: i really, really loved this book. hollis woods is a whole lotta trouble, as so many people have told her. it seems like no one wants to keep her in their life. or she just doesn't want to be in theirs. but anywho, this is written averagely, nothing spectactular. but it's good.
read it, and then see what you think.
it's good. so i recommend it.
Rating:  Summary: WORST BOOK EVER!!! Review: I was going to buy this book at Bookfair at my school today, but I am sick! I've already read this book before but it is sooo good that I want to read it again. Maybe they'll have it at the library.
Rating:  Summary: Pictures of Hollis Woods Review: Reading this book about an orphan who longed for a home and a family to love her was a treat. Hollis Woods was brought up in unloving foster homes that didn't understand her and were always tearing her down, always thinking the worst of her. Out of her deeply rooted hurts, she pushed people away until the Regan family took her for a summer. By their looking for the good in her, they found it. But because of misunderstanding and a tragic accident, Hollis runs away from the only family she ever felt loved by, a family she wanted to belong to. Moving in with Josie, an old artist with signs of Alzheimer's, Hollis feels accepted and needed, but their relationship is doomed, too. Every other chapter features Hollis's flashbacks to explain the accident with the Regans in the unique form of pictures Hollis had drawn. Hollis is a believable and lovable character the reader can fully empathize with. She can help us see others who might have a reputation for being 'trouble' as merely hurting.
Rating:  Summary: Review of "Pictures of Hollis Woods" Review: This book is a pretty good book. The two main characters are Hollis Woods, a twelve-year-old foster girl who was abandoned at the age of one hour, and Josie, a retired art teacher. It begins with a description with a picture entitled "X" and there are descriptions of other pictures every one or two chapters. In the story Hollis runs away from Josie to her last family that almost adopted her. Then she realizes she needs Josie and Josie needs her. This book was pretty good, but had some rough spots, so I took one star away. I read this books first when I was ten, and it got me interested. The book is for ages 9-12.
Rating:  Summary: 'A Definite two thumbs up' Review: This was one of the best books I have ever read. It is greatly written. I relate somewhat to this character Hollis, or Holly. She is a mellow kind of a person who has a special talent in drawing and seeing things through a special perspective. This woman she stays with, Josie, is someone anyone can fall in love with. Giff really portrayed Holly's life excellently through Hollis's pictures from the past.
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