The conundrum---what to do? The book is told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl (think along the lines of Sue Monk Kidd's SECRET LIFE OF BEES). I was thinking, "Oh, no. Not again." But as usual the author handles the material expertly. But what do you do when the main character is the one telling the story, yet her grammar is terrible? Do you leave in the bad English, or do you clean it up and have the "realistic" element taken out? This is a difficult question, and a few authors get around this in various way---I'm thinking of THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD with its precocious seven-year-old who spouts the Latin names for plants. So much for bad grammar. But in ELLEN FOSTER, that couldn't have been done. I only found this "realism" mildly distracting as the story itself is good. Read in one day, it was a not-too-emotional telling by a very talented author who deserves much more respect and admiration that she is getting. Also try her ON THE OCCASION which, I believe, is her best book.