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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Voight was the first author I ever read who got childhood right. Dicey and her siblings move through their broken world in ways that ring absolutely true. This is one of the books that taught me what fiction could do, and what I could be.
I enjoyed this book very much! The characters were well developed, and the story was descriptive.
This book has found a permanent place of honor on my shelf.
This book has found a permanent place of honor on my shelf.
I originally read Homecoming (Book 1) back in middle school. I remember being intrigued by the story of four young children trying to survive while looking for home. I read it several times over the years, always wondering what happened when the Tillermans got to grandma's house. Imagine my surprise when I found Book 2 buried in the discount shelves of Goodwill! Finally! I would get to continue the stories of solemn Dicey, brilliant James, kind and quiet Maybeth, and rough and tumble Sammy. I love how this book dove even farther into the personalities of each child. Even the supporting characters helped us to see more of the Tillermans than we had previously come to know. I felt myself getting sucked into all of Dicey's emotions. I blushed when Jeff asked her to the dance. I smiled when Mina stood up for her in English. I cried when she felt the loss of Momma. I would definitely recommend this book series to anyone who loves character driven YA stories. If you're looking for plot driven novels, Voight isn't the author for you. Try Veronica Rossi. If you're all about character development, give these books a try! I'm anxious to find the next in the series!
I'm really loving the Tillerman cycle, and I have the next two at home to read. For me, "Dicey's Song" wasn't quite as good as "Homecoming" because the plot pacing was slow at times. It sort of felt like a really long character development at times. I loved getting to know more about the Tillermans and watching Dicey's relationship with her grandmother evolve, and I can definitely understand why it is a Newbury Award winner. Definitely recommended!
5 stars for Dicey's Song
Plot and Thought
Oh Dicey, what a strong and wonderful young woman you are...Dicey's song picks up roughly where Homecoming finished. Dicey and her siblings have a safe place to live with their grandmother who has decided to keep them. But their trials aren't over. What happened to their mother? Maybeth is struggling in school. Sammy is behaving unlike himself when he's not a home. James is concerned that he is too smart to have friends and dumbs down his work in hopes of being accepted. Their grandmother struggles to accept help. Dicey struggles to find a new role in the family and how to now best help her siblings.
Whether Dicey means to or not, she makes friends with Wilma and Jeff and has to negotiate new waters with their friendships. Particularly with Jeff, who may be more interested in her than she thought. But through it all she manages to find time to work on her grandmother's old sailboat and it gives her time to work through all the new issues in her life, even when grief strikes.
Status in my Library
I totally own this book, personally. And have newer copies on order for my workplace because I feel it has an awesome message for readers of all ages about family, friends, and loss.
In Conclusion
Dicey's Song is an awesome continuation of the Tillerman family story. You should probably read A Solitary Blue about the same time because they intertwine so closely.
A definite must read for everyone! just give it a try!
Plot and Thought
Oh Dicey, what a strong and wonderful young woman you are...Dicey's song picks up roughly where Homecoming finished. Dicey and her siblings have a safe place to live with their grandmother who has decided to keep them. But their trials aren't over. What happened to their mother? Maybeth is struggling in school. Sammy is behaving unlike himself when he's not a home. James is concerned that he is too smart to have friends and dumbs down his work in hopes of being accepted. Their grandmother struggles to accept help. Dicey struggles to find a new role in the family and how to now best help her siblings.
Whether Dicey means to or not, she makes friends with Wilma and Jeff and has to negotiate new waters with their friendships. Particularly with Jeff, who may be more interested in her than she thought. But through it all she manages to find time to work on her grandmother's old sailboat and it gives her time to work through all the new issues in her life, even when grief strikes.
Status in my Library
I totally own this book, personally. And have newer copies on order for my workplace because I feel it has an awesome message for readers of all ages about family, friends, and loss.
In Conclusion
Dicey's Song is an awesome continuation of the Tillerman family story. You should probably read A Solitary Blue about the same time because they intertwine so closely.
A definite must read for everyone! just give it a try!
This book tugs at every one of my heart strings. I love the reality and the insecurity of it. I love that it brings up the puberty journey but not it a cliche way. So glad these books are standing the test of time.
This is a beautiful coming of age story about a 13 y.o. girl from a poverty-stricken background, who now lives with her three younger siblings and an irascible grandmother on the edge of a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. There are quite a bit of thought-provoking parts in Dicey's story, about the meaning of family, learning disabilities, school and dealing with teachers, and dealing with loss. I think it definitely deserved the Newbery award, and it is rather timeless (unlike "Summer of the Swans", for instance), not really linked to any specific happenings in the late 70's.
There isn't much action - and there is a lot of self-reflection - so some teenagers (especially some boys) may not be very interested. Which is a shame, as it's a wonderful story. The characters seem so real that it makes me want to read more about the Tillerman family, and that's really the ultimate compliment you can give a book, in my opinion.
There isn't much action - and there is a lot of self-reflection - so some teenagers (especially some boys) may not be very interested. Which is a shame, as it's a wonderful story. The characters seem so real that it makes me want to read more about the Tillerman family, and that's really the ultimate compliment you can give a book, in my opinion.
I have read the book before this but found it a bit boring and never properly finished. This one, however is much more interesting and a lot deeper. I love how it can be a good YA book with barely any romance (nothing wrong with romance in and of itself, but it can be a little all consuming in a book, allso she's 14 or so so it would be a bit ick) but instead following a girl settling into a new home and school, her family, the people she meets, and the lessons she learns along the way.
I love the quotes about reaching out to people so much. It's so true.
Dicey herself I find a bit odd, how she starts out not wanting friends and feeling no need for them, I think that is a little unrealistic for a teenage girl and also it is not really explained in the book why she feels this way. I guess it has something to do with the hard life she has had, that she doesn't trust people?
That's just opinion though, and I would recommend this to most girls.
I love the quotes about reaching out to people so much. It's so true.
Dicey herself I find a bit odd, how she starts out not wanting friends and feeling no need for them, I think that is a little unrealistic for a teenage girl and also it is not really explained in the book why she feels this way. I guess it has something to do with the hard life she has had, that she doesn't trust people?
That's just opinion though, and I would recommend this to most girls.
I avoided this book for a long time because I had heard it was too upsetting for children. Yes, it is a sad book. And it might be too sad for some children. But there are lots and lots of children who would like to hear this story.
Dicey and her three siblings have come to live with their grandmother. Their mother is in a mental hospital; their father skipped out before Dicey’s youngest brother, Sammy, was born.
There are lots of problems to overcome. Dicey’s sister, Maybeth, isn’t learning like she should in school. James, Dicey’s brother, hides how smart he is in order to fit in. Sammy gets into fights. People talk about and tease the children about Gram. Dicey, like Gram, has learned to feign indifference.
The whole Tillerman clan slowly works on all these problems, talking together, singing together, making new friends, working, building a boat.
Now I’m anxious to see what my readers of realistic fiction at school think of this book.
Dicey and her three siblings have come to live with their grandmother. Their mother is in a mental hospital; their father skipped out before Dicey’s youngest brother, Sammy, was born.
There are lots of problems to overcome. Dicey’s sister, Maybeth, isn’t learning like she should in school. James, Dicey’s brother, hides how smart he is in order to fit in. Sammy gets into fights. People talk about and tease the children about Gram. Dicey, like Gram, has learned to feign indifference.
The whole Tillerman clan slowly works on all these problems, talking together, singing together, making new friends, working, building a boat.
Now I’m anxious to see what my readers of realistic fiction at school think of this book.