This one had me worried all along, but the ending made me cry--in a good way! ( )

Pictures of Hollis Woods is a really sweet story about a girl (the titular Hollis Woods) in the foster care system. We see her relationships in two different families: one being a more traditional nuclear family with a mother, father and brother, and the second being a single older woman who indulges Hollis' love of art despite her growing health problems. We see Hollis torn between two worlds, wanting a family, but also wanting her freedom.

I remember finding this book in a thrift store after watching a movie adaptation of the book, and it's pretty faithful to the source material. ( )

Hollis Woods has been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. She even runs away from the Regans, the one family who offers her a home.

When Hollis is sent to Josie, an elderly artist who is quirky and affectionate, she wants to stay. But Josie is growing more forgetful every day. If Social Services finds out, they'll take Hollis away and move Josie into a home. Well, Hollis Woods won't let anyone separate them. She's escaped the system before; this time, she plans to take Josie with her.

Yet behind all her plans, Hollis longs for her life with the Regans, fixing each moment of her time with them in pictures she'll never forget.

Nicely done first person narrative by an abandoned child who is unable to stay for long with any foster family with which she is placed. ( )

Check out my review of this book at:
http://shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2011/11/pictures-of-hollis-woods-giff.html ( )