The Life All Around Me by Ellen Foster

In this sequel to Gibbons's beloved classic Ellen Foster , Ellen, now fifteen, 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. But while she holds fast to the shreds of her child hood?humoring her best friend, Stuart, who is determined to marry her; and protecting her old neighbor, slow-witted Starletta?she begins to negotiate her way into a larger world. With a singular mix of perspicacity, naïveté, and compas sion, Ellen draws us into her life and makes us fall in love with her all over again.