SPOILERS!!!
I really enjoyed the book and I found the character of Ellen fascinating.
Ellen looks after her grandmother when she comes down with pneumonia, but the old woman dies. After that, Ellen moves with her aunt Nadine and her cousin Dora. Living there is not pleasant for her, and she feels that her aunt and cousin find her a burden, and they simply put up with her. Dora is spoilt and can't accept that Ellen could be better than her at anything. It is at church that Ellen first sees Mrs Foster, and she learns that she takes in orphaned children. For some reason even from the distance Ellen thinks that Mrs Foster is kind and she longs to live there with her and the other children.
Before Christmas her aunt asks Ellen what she would like as a present and she tells her that she only needs paper to draw. That is what she gets on Christmas Day while her cousin receives a heap of presents. Ellen becomes upset, realising that she hoped that her aunt would have bought her something else other than paper. Ellen angrily fights with her aunt and cousin, and then she runs away. That night she turns up at Mrs Foster's home, and the woman is surprised, telling her that it is never the children that come to her, but Ellen begs her to take her in, and the woman says that she can stay and they will sort out any legal thing later.
At present time Ellen is happy when her new mama lets her invite Starletta home one weekend. It is something that Ellen has never considered, and she realises that she has been mean to Starletta just like everybody else, because she is black. Starletta's parents have always treated her well, and now she is ashamed of her own thoughts about how poor they were. The book ends with these thoughts and Ellen telling Starletta how fond of her she is.
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