Patricia Reilly Giff - Pictures of Hollis Woods

Pros: presentation, appeal to its intended audience, simple yet engrossing

Cons: the ending is a bit too perfect, but it works

The Bottom Line: Pictures of Hollis Woods is presented in such an engaging fashion it keeps you turning pages right through to the end.

Review: Picture This

Hollis Woods is a troubled twelve-year-old orphan. She feels unloved, unwanted and unsettled. Her emotional issues began virtually the moment she was born. Just an hour old, she was discovered next to a patch of...

Pros: Colorful, characters are warm and believable.

Cons: None.

The Bottom Line: This book is a wonderful preteen read. Gritty, real characters, full of life and personality. A book that I fully intend to let my 13 year old twins read.

Review: Hollis Woods is a brilliant, talented, eleven year old artist. Abandoned on a street, naked with only a note, asking that she be named Hollis Woods, she has been shuttled between foster homes. She thinks of her various homes in terms of what they...