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<title> Ellen </title>
Ellen is an eleven-year-old girl with an unusually hard childhood. We meet her just before her mother's suicide and will follow her struggle to find a suitable home. The book is written from Ellen's view with a clear language of a smart and energetic girl. Her character is well shown with her easy language and honesty while telling us the story.
	 Ellen knows how to take care of herself. When the story starts she is living with her parents an often drunken father and a suicidal mother. Ellen is the one that much takes care of the household as her mother is weak and her father seems to count on being served. She hates her father that is acting very abusive towards her and her mother. The story starts with Ellen telling us: "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it through my head until it got easy" (p.1). This shows clearly her feelings towards her father. Ellen is a very responsible girl and she has made it her responsibility to protect her mother from her father. "I try not to leave her by herself with him. Not even when they are both asleep in the bed. My baby crib is still up in their bedroom so when I hear them at night I throw a fit and will not stop until I can sleep in the baby bed." (p 8) She can't understand her fathers hate towards her mother. "All the time I look at him and at her and try to figure out why he hates her so bad." (p. 4) After her mother's death, Ellen stays out of the house as much as possible. You can see her creativeness when she is finding things to fill up her time with, she joins a scout group and she borrows books from the library. A game of hers is to look through catalogues and pick out a family that she is finding clothes and things for. She is always making plans for them in before so they will never run out of anything. Before Christmas she goes out to by her own Christmas gifts, but mostly she is with her coloured friend Starletta and her family.
	 Ellen is concerned with order. She won't colour with a broken crayon and she wants to play with Starlettas toys only when they are new. At her new mama's everything matches in her room. 
	 Ellen also has a very rational behaviour, when she can't stand her fathers abuse anymore she start calling people she know to ask if she can come and live with them. This time it doesn't work out but Ellen won't give up. When she later lives with her aunt and cousin she tries again, she goes with her box of things and money to see her "new mama". After they been talking a bit Ellen tells us in the book. "...I told her there was just a couple of things I needed to know before I unloaded my box and settled in that room she mentioned... Well I need to know if you are pretty healthy or if you have a disease or bad habits like drinking. Also are you generally friendly or do you have any days when you act crazy or extra mean?" (P 119) Because of Ellen's bad experiences from earlier homes she now makes sure before she moves in that she won't have to go through any of it again.
	 Ellen's assessments toward black people and how it changes also tell something about her characters development. Her best friend is black but still she thinks that they are dirty. She wouldn't eat a "black biscuit" and she says "As found as I am of all three of them I do not think I could drink after them. I try to see what Sterletta leaves on the lip of a bottle but I have never seen anything with the naked eye. If something is that small it is bound to get into your system and do some damage." (P 30) When she get a sweater from Starlettas mother she says happily, "I do not tell a story when I say it does not look coloured at all." (P 32) This attitude changes. A child is often easily influenced by the attitudes of her surroundings and those are the attitudes towards black people at the time being. The attitudes milder and also Ellen understands the injustice towards coloured people. In the end when she finally have found a good home to stay she tells us: "I came a long way to get here but when you think about it real hard you will see that old Starletta came even farther... And all this time I thought I had the hardest row to hoe. That will always amaze me." (P 126) 
	 Ellen's self-awareness and desire to create a good life for herself is the main part in her character. Ellen's strength much impressed and amazed me. Despite hard times she always seemed to manage.
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