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Nonnie/Gilly’s Grandmother
Miss Ellis is Gilly’s caseworker with the foster agency. Gilly sees her as purely an antagonist trying to impose her will on Gilly. However, there are numerous implications that while Miss Ellis is genuinely frustrated by Gilly’s antics, she also wants what’s best for Gilly and is trying to get Gilly the help she needs. She’s also the only person to say outright that Courtney’s actions don’t indicate that she has any desire to parent Gilly—the truth, but something that makes her even more of an antagonist in Gilly’s eyes.
Miss Ellis Quotes in The Great Gilly Hopkins
The The Great Gilly Hopkins quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Ellis or refer to Miss Ellis . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
“Hey, there, I thought I heard y’all pull up.” The door had opened, and a huge hippopotamus of a woman was filling the doorway. “Welcome to Thompson Park, Gilly, honey.”
“Galadriel,” muttered Gilly, not that she expected this bale of blubber to manage her real name. Jeez, they didn’t have to put her in with a freak.
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Chapter 3 Quotes
That ignorant hippopotamus! That walrus-faced imbecile! That—oh, the devil—Trotter wouldn’t even let a drop fall from her precious William Ernest baby’s nose, but she would let Gilly go to school—a new school where she didn’t know anybody—looking like a scarecrow. Miss Ellis would surely hear about this. Gilly slammed her fist into her pillow. There had to be a law against foster mothers who showed such gross favoritism.
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Chapter 9 Quotes
“Sometimes, Miz Ellis, you gotta walk on your heel and favor your toe even if it makes your heel a little sore.”
“I don’t understand what you’re driving at.”
“Somebody’s got to favor Gilly for a little while. She’s long overdue.”
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Chapter 10 Quotes
Well, it didn’t matter what the woman thought. Miss Ellis could explain about today. No one could make her leave here, not when everyone needed her so. Besides—Trotter wouldn’t let them take her. “Never,” she had said. “Never, never, never.”
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Miss Ellis Character Timeline in The Great Gilly Hopkins
The timeline below shows where the character Miss Ellis appears in The Great Gilly Hopkins. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
As she drives, Miss Ellis tells Gilly to make an effort: this will be Gilly’s third foster home in three...
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Miss Ellis tries to tell Gilly something else, but Gilly corrects her caseworker: her name is Galadriel,...
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In an old neighborhood, Miss Ellis stops in front of a brown house with a dirty white fence around it. She...
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...piano, and once the adults are busy talking, Gilly shoots William Ernest a frightening stare. Miss Ellis says it’s time for her to leave, and Mrs. Trotter insists that she and William...
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Chapter 2
...a “religious fanatic,” William Ernest is clearly unintelligent, and a Black man eats with them. Miss Ellis must be unaware of the whole situation. Gilly catches Mr. Randolph as he trips, and...
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...knows people like Courtney don’t eat with Black people. Maybe Gilly could get Trotter and Miss Ellis in trouble too. If only Courtney knew what Gilly had to deal with, she’d whisk...
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Chapter 8
...Gilly can only hear Trotter’s replies to the officers’ questions. Trotter tells them her name, Miss Ellis ’s name, explains that Gilly is a foster child, and says she has no money...
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Chapter 9
When Gilly gets home from school the next afternoon, Trotter and Miss Ellis are fighting in the living room—and Trotter is yelling. Though Miss Ellis insists this incident...
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Ignoring Miss Ellis , Trotter says the caseworker was just saying that it’s Gilly’s choice whether she’d like...
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Once Miss Ellis is gone, Trotter gives Gilly a stony glare and asks where all the money came...
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Chapter 11
...Ernest return to school and Mr. Randolph moves back home. Later, Gilly will learn that Miss Ellis got to work to find a note on her desk, asking her to call asking...
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Trotter greets Gilly and William Ernest at the door. Something is clearly wrong, and Miss Ellis is already in the living room. As soon as Gilly is seated, Mrs. Ellis begins...
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...so they’re touching. Trotter heavily gets to her feet and coaxes William Ernest out—this is Miss Ellis ’s job to explain what’s happening to Gilly. Miss Ellis observes that Gilly seriously messed...
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Chapter 12
...night, but nobody wants to eat it. William Ernest cries silently. Gilly wonders how much Miss Ellis told Trotter, specifically about the letter. Had Gilly said something cruel about William Ernest in...
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Chapter 13
Gilly’s grandmother tries to connect, suggesting Gilly turn on the radio and noting that Miss Ellis implied that Gilly’s foster home was actually just fine. Gilly insists everyone was sick during...
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