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Have you ever picked up a book on your bookshelf that you have never read—maybe you don’t even know where it came from—and decided to finally give it a chance?
That was how I first came to read Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff (Amazon Affliate Link). And I am so glad I did.
Pictures of Hollis Woods is the story of Hollis, a foster child who dreams of one day having a family of her own.
When Hollis is sent to live with a kind, elderly artist named Josie, she feels like she’s finally found a place to belong.
But it’s not that simple. Every day, Josie becomes more forgetful. And Hollis knows that if her social worker finds out, she and Josie will be separated.
Hollis can’t let that happen. As she moves ahead with a plan to secure her life with Josie, she reflects on the previous summer she spent with the Regan family.
Through masterful storytelling, Patricia Reilly Giff connects the past narrative with the present in this heartwarming tale of belonging.
Once I started reading Hollis’s story, I finished it in less than a day. I cared about Hollis from the very first chapter. I wanted her to find her family. But I didn’t know what that would look like, and I didn’t know how her story would end.
And—I won’t spoil anything—but I did love the ending.
One sweet reminder from Pictures of Hollis Woods is that every person has a story.
We might see someone acting unkind or apathetic or angry. We might see someone making bad decisions. And we might be tempted to judge them for these things.
But until we give that person a chance, we don’t know what is going on in the inside. We don’t know what they’ve been through. We don’t know how the past has hurt them and taught them to be careful in new situations.
What an important reminder for our kids as they sit in their classrooms or ride buses or overhear conversations in the grocery store. And what an important reminder for us too.
How often are we tempted to judge? To make assumptions? To think we know exactly what is going on?
But the truth is, we are all wonderful created by the God of the universe. We are created to love and to be loved. To belong. To hand out second chances, just like God gives us second chances, and third ones, and so on.
And part of developing this empathy, I think, comes in reading good stories. Stories like Pictures of Hollis Woods.
Never forget . . . you are wonderfully created.
Love,
Becca
