Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster

This sequel to Gibbons' beloved classic "Ellen Foster", stands on its own as an unforgettable portrait of a redoubtable adolescent making herself up out of whole cloth. Now fifteen, Ellen is settled into a permanent home with a new mother. Strengthened by adversity and blessed with enough intelligence to design a salvation for herself, she still feels ill at ease in the world. Her sole surviving ritual --a visit to the county fair --takes on totemic importance. While she holds fast to the shreds of her childhood --humoring her best friend Stuart who is determined to marry her, protecting her old neighbor, slow-witted Starletta, she negotiates her way into a larger world --selling her poetry for money to pay her way to a camp for gifted students. With a singular mix of perspicacity, naivete and compassion, Ellen draws us into her life and makes us fall in love with her all over again.Gibbons, Kaye is the author of 'Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster ', published 2005 under ISBN 9780375728518 and ISBN 0375728511.