Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

In The Great Gilly Hopkins we look at life through the eyes of the main character Gilly… and we are beyond troubled at what we see. Much like the beginning of the book of Romans and other key places in Scripture, here the human condition without Christ is laid bare. This is depravity, displayed in the life of a neglected child. Gilly is mean, intentionally wicked, manipulative, racist and disrespectful just to name a few. She is constantly looking to cause trouble, gets happy when she hurts someone, gossips, pokes fun at someone with special needs, fights and enjoys it, is constantly thinking mean thoughts about her foster mother’s weight and takes the Lord’s name in vain. Beyond this, there are a couple of items that parents need to pay particular attention to. Gilly sets her heart and mind on running away and she eventually attempts it. In the process she steals money from a neighbor on two separate occasions and eventually her foster mother. There is also a strong teacher she is determined to get under the skin of. After everything she tries fails, she writes here a poem which ends with a blank pause that is meant to cause the reader to fill in the racist “N-word”. There may also be additional pause for children of challenging family/foster backgrounds.