Ellen Foster

Ellen Foster (1987) is the first novel by American writer Kei Gibbons. The novel tells the story of her 10 year old Allen Foster and her challenging childhood. This novel was inspired by the authors' own experiences raised in 4 rural farmers in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina. Allen is a white girl who lives in the southern countryside from the mid-1970s to the latter half. Allen tells her story with a language that is grammatically incorrect with young girls who are not much educated. She is the only child that grew up in a challenging environment. Her father was insulted drunk. Allen wants to have a way to regain her father from her life. She even imagines the way he might kill him. Her mother is suffering from a heart disease, Allen must protect her mother from her abused husband.

Ellen Foster, a character of Kay Gibbons' novel 'Ellen Foster', is a way to work hard to find and find yourself in the world. A young girl Allen was robbed of her normal childhood. Her childhood life was very difficult both physically and mentally. When she was young, she had no mother or father to take care of her. As she was not used to anything else, Ellen was able to accept her normal childhood by stopping her problem. Any ordinary child will suffer mentally, but Allen develops power through her obstacles.

Gibbons' first novel, Alan Foster, is actually a poem written from the point of view of an African-American girl (this girl will eventually become the best friend of Allen in the novel). After announcing poetry to Louis Rubin, professor of southern literature at the University of North Carolina, Gibbons was encouraged to enrich the work. It evolved from Gibbons's own childhood to a novel with much details. This novel was made entirely from the viewpoint of Allen, a 10-year old, and immediately revealed that the childhood of the narrator was not so idyllic. It has laid the whole novel tone; Alan lives in her foster's house now, but she must grow up too early. She is much smarter than most 10 - year - old girls, and this maturation comes from what she has seen so far.