Pictures of Hollis Woods

written by Patricia Reilly Giff

Dell Publishing, 2004

Genre: Children's realistic Fiction

Reading level: ages 12+

176 pages

Pictures of Hollis Woods, is the story of a young foster child who draws her experiences as she travels from home to home but misses one home in particular. Each chapter in the book is based on one of Hollis' pictures and it goes back and forth between Hollis's experience in her favorite household with the Regans, and the house she is in presently, with Josie Cahill. The book starts out with a short prologue that describes one of Hollis experiences in school where she was supposed to find a picture that had the letter W portrayed in it somewhere, and she chose a picture of a family, the teacher didn't get it and she got in trouble, though she meant it to be "wish". The main story starts with Hollis being dropped off by her social worker, aka the "mustard" woman, at her new residence, the residence of Josie Cahill. Josie is an artist herself. Josie is older and a little senile but excited to have Hollis come stay with her and promises to make a stick figure of her out of wood, a recurring theme in the story. Hollis thinks it might not be too bad and becomes close friends with Josie and her cat Henry. As the story develops and Hollis and Josie become closer another story unfolds. There are flashbacks, through Hollis' pictures, that tell about her experience with the Regans. Which includes the Old Man, his wife Izzy, and their son Steven. Hollis draws a picture of their first meeting and her becoming closer to their family. The story goes back to Hollis' new life with Josie where Josie shows Hollis her favorite things, and encourages her art. Hollis is introduced to Josie's sister Beatrice who runs an old movie theater and is also an artist. Hollis also notices more and more Josie's forgetfulness and how much she is struggling. She even forgets to take Hollis to school, and Hollis doesn't remind her until the social worker returns and forces her to go back to school. There are several flashbacks to Hollis with the Regans, it describes their exciting fishing trips, the mountain minutes away from the house, the artist utensils that she is given by the old man and the love that develops between them all. However, there is also a deep conflict as Hollis feels that she is causing the fighting between the old man and Steven, and that she is making their lives harder. Then again back to Josie; Beatrice leaves on vacation and the social worker decides that Josie is not a suitable caregiver for Hollis and that soon she will come to take her away. So Hollis decides to run, again. Hollis ran from several foster homes, including the Regan's. Hollis knows the Regan's summer house is empty, because it is winter, and she decides that she will take Josie and hide out there, after all she had a lot of great memories from there. So they set out and spend Christmas Eve and Christmas there. Mysteriously Josie says that "santa" came on a snowmobile and brought them food and candy. All while this is going on there continue to be flashbacks until finally the whole story about why Hollis left the Regans comes out. First off, it was decided that the Regans would adopt Hollis and they would be a family, Hollis was happy but still a little unsettled that there was conflict between the old man and Steven. One day while Steven and Hollis were at the summer house alone, and Steven went fishing so Hollis decides to climb the mountain outside the house and yell that she was finally part of a family, however on the way down she falls and twists her ankle. After a few hours Steven comes up in the pick up truck he's not supposed to drive and they head down the mountain. The truck crashes and Steven is hurt, the old man and Izzy come home just in time to get Steven to the hospital and Hollis hears the old man say that it was Steven's fault. Hollis feels awful and thinks that she has ruined this family. So she runs away. The old man tries to get her to come back but she refuses and goes to live with Josie. The story returns to Hollis and Josie in the Regan's summer house and Hollis discovers that "santa" was actually Steven. They have a sweet reunion and after pondering her pictures Hollis realizes that the old man loves Steven and it wasn't her fault they fought, it was who they are. She shows Steven her wish picture and it all comes full circle. So Hollis returns to live with the Regan's and their new baby Christina. Josie, who is to be taken care of by Beatrice stays friends with Hollis and they visit each other regularly.

I would recommend this book to any young child who likes adventure, mystery, and some sweet entertainment.

I didn't feel there was any conflict that could come with this book.

I really enjoyed this book, i loved the way the story was portrayed through the pictures, and the moral that came along with it. I liked the deep characters and their family relationships. It was a very unique and entertaining story that i will definitely read again.

My rating: 4 out of 5