Dicey's Song

When we catch up to the Tillerman family they are in Maryland living with the grandmother they never knew they had. Dicey is a teenager starting to come of age with homework and budding albeit reluctant friendships. Her brothers, James and Sammy, are in thriving in school. Only sister Maybeth is a musical prodigy. Her family is becoming self-sufficient. Everything should be great for Dicey. Her family is not on the run. They have a roof over their heads every night. They have food on the table at every meal. They have someone to look after them. But, for Dicey something is wrong. For the longest time she had control over her family. Keeping them together and safe was all she knew how to do. When her siblings start exercising show more independence Dicey isn't sure how to feel about it. She has to learn to let them go their own way, together but apart. At the same time Dicey deals with the confusion of becoming a young woman without her mother's guidance. My favorite moments were whenever Gram's hardened exterior began to soften as each child reached for her love. show less

After the events of the summer recounted in Homecoming, Dicey and her siblings are adjusting to life with their Gram in Maryland. Now no longer the sole one in charge of making decisions, Dicey deals with school and making new friends, while her Gram works on officially adopting the children knowing that their mother will probably never be well again.

I loved the Tillerman stories when I was younger - I don't know why, but stories about kids with hard home lives finding a place to call home appealed to me. This is very much in that vein, as Dicey learns to reach out a hand to others and allow them to become friends. It's much more focused on her character than any plot, running from the start of school to about Christmastime. I might be show more a slightly more harsher critic as an adult then I was when I first read it, but it's still a good story. Though it could technically be read as a standalone, I think it makes a little more sense to read Homecoming first because they quickly reference events of the summer a couple of times that don't have the same resonance with readers if you're not aware. show less

I read this book because it is a Newbery Medal winner, and well deservedly. Voight's characterizations of all the players in the book were wonderful. Even smaller characters were painted with only a few words. I felt like I got to know Dicey and her family as well as the people who became friends. Gram was magical. When I started the book, I did not know it was part of a series. I am now anxious to read the first book of the Tilleman Cycle. And, since I enjoyed Dicey's Song so much, I may well read it again !

In Homecoming, brave, resourceful Dicey, brainy James, sweet Maybeth, and stubborn Sammy made their way to a place that they all can call home. In Dicey's Song, the children are learning their way in a new place, and it's not an easy transition for any of them. And then, of course, there's Momma, who is at a hospital far away in New England, who may never get better. Dicey and her siblings have found a home, but now they have to find a way to be, to belong.

I've loved these books for years. The story of the Tillerman family is so rich, so bittersweet. Voigt just nails it on so many levels: the interactions between the characters, the way she describes the setting, the descriptions of food and music and simple pleasures. These are books show more that I can revisit again and again. show less

I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. I love Gram, and Wilhelmina. I'm adding the book to my to-reread list, and am, in fact, considering reading the next book(s?) about the Tillermans.

My farm grandma definitely did things her way. She didn't teach much wisdom, like Ab did, for example about reaching out with open hands. But she shared a sense of joy and an ability to be playful. We'd lay down in the yard and find four leaf clovers (well, she did, I didn't). Or she'd teach me how to whistle a grass blade, or use twine and a button to make a spinner. And she always had a few pansies in one corner of the large vegetable garden. And we had chickens one year, but when they turned out to be too much work, we just stopped... it was an show more experiment, and it's ok that it failed.

Music is also a very important part of this book (and the previous one, too). Of course I had to look up one of the songs, which turns out to have two titles, one of which is The Riddle Song (of course). But I'm curious about the others, too. I think they're all folk tunes? But maybe not? show less

Dicey's Song roll along slowly, almost serenely, though turmoil bubbles below the surface. The story of one family's journey to find themselves, this novel was full of appropriate contradictions. The story moved slowly, though the character's metamorphoses were rapid. It was a story about letting go, but even more so about holding on. The characters were short and walled-off, yet open and accessible. Though there is quite a bit of confusion to get past in order to get into the story, the reader ends up learning that that confusion is necessary--vital, even. You'll find yourself appreciating almost everything about this book, and perhaps even wishing there were more stories which followed the Tillerman's throughout their lives.

Here the reader learns more about Dicey as she begins to grow up and navigate the confusing labyrinth of being a teenager. After a devastating event, Dicey must help her siblings deal with the fallout. Written beautifully, a little more of the story unfolds and draws you in further to the Tillerman family. By now, I care about them as if they are real people. I mourn when they mourn, and I celebrate their triumphs. That's the mark of a great writer.