So, when I was younger, I knew people who were completely obsessed with these books. Homecoming and Dicey's Song were highly regarded, just like Judy Blume's books, as being THE essential reads for young girls. However, for some reason, I never got around to reading them. Maybe it was because the old covers didn't seem all that appealing to me. The strange thing is that I've read and adored almost every other book by Cynthia Voigt. Jackaroo? I've lost count of how many times I've read that one. And The Callander Papers? Still a favorite of mine! But the Tillerman books just didn't seem like they would be to my taste.

Finally, after seeing Homecoming on countless lists of books that you were supposed to have read in high school, I decided to give it a try.

And you know what? I couldn't help but think about how different this book would be if it were written today. For sure, Dicey wouldn't be constantly mistaken for a boy, and there would definitely be elements of sexual peril for her. I'm truly glad that this was written in a time when that wasn't the norm in kids' books. Dicey isn't interested in boys, and they aren't interested in her, which was a relief. What was more concerning was how they would manage to eat and where they would sleep. I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of how much money they had, how Dicey spent it, and how far they could get with their wits and peanut butter. Once again, if this were written today, they would need a whole lot more money, and they would have to be much more creative about earning it. In today's society, you just can't hang out in your car in the parking lot waiting for your mom, or sit on the curb all day while your older sibling carries groceries for tips. Family Services would probably be called by the end of the first chapter, and if a kid tried to carry groceries for tip money, the store manager would most likely call the cops right away.

I do wish I had read this when I was younger because the day-to-day details of how they managed to get by would have been extremely fascinating to me. As an adult, I was a bit impatient with the slow pace at the beginning ("Walk faster! Stop stopping to hang out by the freaking ocean!"), and as a mom, I was too worried about their safety to fully enjoy some parts of it. But by Part Two, I was completely invested, and it had a very satisfying ending. In fact, I'm so invested that as I walked through the library today, I passed Dicey's Song and immediately picked it up!

I missed this classic series during my childhood. I had听闻过Dicey's Song, but I never read it and was unaware that it was part of a series. So, it came as a pleasant surprise when we received this as a gift. And although it was considered "old" (according to my 12-year-old) and quite long, we both found it truly captivating. We were completely engrossed in the story from beginning to end. The characters were well-developed and the plot was engaging, keeping us on the edge of our seats. It was a wonderful discovery that made us eager to explore the rest of the series. I'm glad we finally got the chance to experience this literary gem.

I'm almost positive that this book was responsible for the catastrophic downfall of my reader era, slowly edging me into the book slump that followed.

The first time I read this book, I was in the 6th or 7th grade, I believe. It was because I had to pick from a list for summer reading, and this is the one I decided on, I guess! I don't remember how I felt about it when I first read it at that age. But as I was reading it through this time around, I was definitely remembering small moments in the book from the first read. It's so crazy how the mind and memory work because that was so long ago, but a lot of things were so clear!

Anyways, whether or not I liked it when I was younger, I definitely think this book was not for me. It lagged a lot for me and was just a bit boring overall. From what I could remember, the characters were a bit annoying, and I found it hard to connect with them. While I truly felt for the kids throughout their adventure because overall it is a heartbreaking story, I found it hard to connect with the story as well. I also read this sandwiched right in the middle of two very different book series compared to this. And also, I was still riding the high of the book I had previously finished, which I was very emotionally invested in. So naturally, whatever book I followed that up with was always going to unfortunately suffer because of that.

Overall, it wasn't my cup of tea. However, this style and genre of book might just not really be for me. I liked the concept/idea, and it was nice to go down memory lane to an old read as I cleaned out my bookshelf. But I mostly can't get over how much I struggled finishing this book. It seems that some books are just not meant to be loved by everyone, and this one, for me, falls into that category. Maybe others will have a completely different experience with it, but for now, I'm glad to have finally finished it and moved on to other reading adventures.

In this captivating book, Dicey Tillerman's mother embarks on a harsh journey in their wagon to visit their aunt in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

When they have traveled approximately half the distance between their home in Provincetown and Bridgeport, Momma suddenly stops the car, gets out, and instructs the three younger children, James, Maybeth, and Sammy, to listen to Dicey. However, their mother does not come back.

The next day, under Dicey's resolute leadership, the children set off on foot to Bridgeport, armed only with a map, a change of underwear, and seven dollars. They walk for days, buying food as inexpensively as possible, scavenging for change along the road, and sleeping in or near empty houses.

After several days, they stop to rest in a state park where clams, mussels, and fish are abundant. There, they encounter a young runaway couple, Edie and Louis. To Dicey's dismay, Sammy steals both food and money in the park. When the police start looking for them, they flee in fright.

By the time they reach the Connecticut River, they are completely out of money. Dicey decides to earn money by washing windows, and soon has the children carrying bags in the parking lot of a grocery store. Once they have enough money, they can continue their journey.

However, after traveling a little further, they run out of money again. Just as they are preparing to return home, Dicey realizes that her grandmother has forgotten to mail the letter to Eunice. She reminds her grandmother, but before she can reach the letterbox, Dicey stops her and tells her that she should take the children in, even if she doesn't want to. To her surprise, her grandmother agrees, feigning exasperation that the children have worn her down.

Overjoyed, the five of them return home together, united in their sense of hope and relief.

This book is truly fascinating to me. It's astonishing what these children do and how they manage to survive and return home in the end. The book is filled with many remarkable details and is extremely interesting. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone.

I just re-read this series of books. I first read them when I was approximately eleven years old. I had a great affection for them back then, and I was delighted to find out that they are equally wonderful to read as an adult. The writing is excellent and thought-provoking. All the characters, even the minor ones, come across as extremely rich and complex. Each character has their own unique personality, motives, and flaws, which makes them feel very real and relatable. I truly hope that one day, I will have the opportunity to read these books to my own children. Sharing these stories with them would be a joyous experience, and I believe they would also fall in love with the characters and the adventures within the pages.

There are some characters in novels that stick with you all of your life.

Do you know what I mean?

We all remember Ramona Quimby - right?

People fall in love with Harry Potter and Frodo and Lucy Pevensie. Maybe you can't forget Oliver Twist or that one big guy in Of Mice and Men.

I remember a girl named Dicey as if we were next door neighbors or first cousins.

She and her siblings are the main characters in a book series by Cynthia Voight. The first novel is Homecoming and the storyline shocked me as a kid and stuck right in my gut somewhere and I've never forgotten the vibe and the heart of that novel - not even thirty years later. (I used to want to name my daughter Dicey. It didn't happen. But that thought was always there.)

Last week I finished rereading Homecoming (as a grown up!) because I wanted to consider it for our girls Book Club but remembered its content to be heavy and wanted to evaluate whether I thought the girls were ready for it just yet.

The story is a hard one, you guys.

Dicey and her three younger siblings live with their mom on the coast. Their dad left them years earlier. The novel opens with the four kids waiting in their blue station wagon in the parking lot of a mall. It's a hot summer day and their mom heads into the mall while the kids are instructed to listen to thirteen-year-old Dicey and stay put.

The kids wait. And wait. And Mom never comes out of the mall. The abandoned kids spend one night in the station wagon and then trek it out on their own.

Of course, this story is written before cell phones and the internet. So there's no texting to save them and they need to use an actual phone book.

Dicey is afraid to go to the police for fear of being separated from her siblings and the kids choose to band together no matter the cost. They have a destination in mind of the home of a grandmother they've never met who lives down the coast.

The novel moves along following Dicey's stoic efforts to feed her family and meet their physical needs, while wrestling with the fall out of her mother's abandonment and her fears of what their future holds. The pressure on a kid of this age is immense.

There's so much to like in this story. So much to worry about. So much to fear for Dicey and James and Maybeth and Sammy.

Homecoming is such a worthwhile read.

Good literature should give you a place for your own feelings to land. Good literature should make you think and it should make you feel and it should open your eyes to the thinking and the feeling of someone else too.

I think there's something very powerful about putting novels like this in the hands of girls like mine.

Books are safe places. Books are about other people and other people's lives. You can talk about other people and other people's lives while kind of sort of trying out feelings and thoughts of your own about your own life. But you say it's about Dicey and you can see how that works out in your mind and in your words. Safe. Talkable.

It's why Book Club started actually.

To talk about Big Things through safe characters in safe books with beginnings, middles and ends and a hard cover that you can close when you've had too much.

I think Homecoming is a perfect Book Club book actually.

And I still feel just as inspired by Dicey as a forty-two year old as I did when I met her as a twelve year old.

I'd read Dicey's Song when I was a kid, and I never realized it actually was a sequel to Homecoming.

Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sam Tillerman's lives take a drastic turn when their mother abandons them and the car in a mall parking lot. Suddenly left on their own, the children are faced with a difficult situation.

Thirteen-year-old Dicey, being the eldest and most resourceful, comes up with a bold and perilous plan. Since they know they were originally on their way to live with their Aunt Cilla in Bridgeport, they decide to continue the journey on foot.

Their adventure is filled with excitement and danger. As they make their way, they encounter various people and obstacles.

When they finally reach Bridgeport, they discover that things are not as they had expected.

I sometimes found my credulity stretched just a bit. The adults that the children meet seem curiously unwilling to question who the kids are and where they're going. However, maybe this is more realistic than I would like to think. It makes me wonder about the world we live in and how sometimes people are so preoccupied with their own lives that they don't notice the needs of others.

Overall, Dicey's Song is a captivating story that explores themes of family, survival, and the power of hope.

I have always had a special place in my heart for this. It was something that brought me so much joy and excitement when I was a kid.

Every time I engaged with it, it felt like I was entering a whole new world filled with wonder and possibilities.

The memories associated with it are truly precious and have stayed with me throughout the years.

It could be a toy, a game, a book, or anything that captured my imagination and made my childhood truly unforgettable.

Even now, when I think about it, a smile不自觉地 spreads across my face.

It serves as a reminder of the simple pleasures and innocence of my younger days.

I am so grateful to have had this experience and will always cherish it. :-)

"Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt is an incredibly adventurous, realistic, and deeply moving story. It is one of my all-time favorite books as it imparts numerous valuable lessons to the reader, especially about being grateful for what one has.

The story commences with four children - Dicey, a courageous and smart 13-year-old girl; James, a highly intelligent 10-year-old boy; Maybeth, a pretty and shy 9-year-old girl who is far smarter than she appears; and Sammy, the brave yet stubborn 6-year-old boy. After their mother abandons them, they embark on a quest to find a home. Their only known family member is their Aunt Cilla. Dicey, being the eldest, decides they will walk to Bridgeport to seek out Aunt Cilla. Voigt masterfully describes the various places they encounter using vivid figurative language and an abundance of details, enabling the reader to vividly picture the cities the Tillermans traverse.

When the Tillermans reach Connecticut, they are penniless and on the verge of giving up. However, their fortunes change when they meet Wendi and Stewart outside their college. Stewart kindly offers to drive the kids to Bridgeport. But upon arrival, they discover that the house is not what they had anticipated. To make matters worse, Aunt Cilla is not even there. Instead, her daughter, Cousin Eunice, is living in the house. Cousin Eunice, a self-absorbed woman, decides to take the four kids in. James excels in school and becomes the teacher's favorite due to his vast knowledge. Maybeth becomes Cousin Eunice's doll, but everyone mistakenly believes she has a learning disability. Sammy gets into frequent fights with the kids at school. And Dicey is reduced to being the house maid. Despite having a place to stay, the kids still don't feel at home, so they resolve to find their long-lost grandmother.

Dicey manages to raise some money while in Bridgeport, enabling the kids to take the bus near their grandmother's house. However, they soon run out of money and are forced to find work at Mr. Rudyard's house. Unfortunately, they quickly realize that Mr. Rudyard is an evil man who has no intention of paying them for their work. Fearing for their safety, the four kids decide to flee. They manage to elude Mr. Rudyard, but they remain vigilant. The next day, they spot Mr. Rudyard's car following them. They run as fast as they can and take refuge in a circus. Will, the kind-hearted man who runs the circus, comes to their rescue and stands up to Mr. Rudyard. He then drives the kids to their grandma's house.

Dicey enters the house and meets her grandma for the very first time. The kids discover that their grandma is not as "crazy" as everyone has made her out to be. In the end, the kids have finally found their true home - their grandma's house. I rate this book four out of five stars because the story is truly captivating and I found myself emotionally invested in the lives of the Tillermans, despite them being fictional characters. The only drawback of this book is the overly extensive descriptions, which at times felt a bit excessive. Nevertheless, overall, the book is truly remarkable.

There have been quite a few stories that contained bits and pieces of the kind of material to be found in Homecoming. However, to be quite honest, I would have to contend that not one of them can compare to this book.

Cynthia Voigt has masterfully crafted a story that is so totally complete and resonates in every way possible. I truly think that not even the world's greatest author could have improved upon this book. The author touches on so many themes in such surprising depth. A shorter book simply could not have held the overflow of pure wisdom, warmth, love, humor, and fidelity to one's goals that fills up Homecoming and spills out of the pages.

The saga of Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy in Homecoming is one of the greatest that I have ever encountered in the ranks of literature. And this book is only the first of seven. These four protagonists start on a long sojourn that will never be forgotten by the reader who allows the story to enter his or her heart. I do not see how this book did not win the 1982 Newbery Medal. But it will continue to touch people and change lives, even for many years to come. This is a virtuoso performance by a master in her field. Bravissimo.

As a child, this was my all time favorite book!

It was like a magical portal that transported me to different worlds and introduced me to a plethora of wonderful characters. The moment I opened its pages, I was immediately drawn into its captivating storylines and vivid descriptions. Every word seemed to dance on the paper, painting a beautiful picture in my mind's eye. I would spend hours lost in its pages, completely oblivious to the world around me. This book not only entertained me but also sparked my imagination and taught me valuable lessons about life, friendship, and love. It will always hold a special place in my heart and remain a cherished memory of my childhood.

4 Stars, conflicted

This book is both long and depressing, especially when one takes into account the kind of consequences this would have on a girl like Dicey. She simply should not be in such a situation, burdened with so much responsibility. She should not have to be constantly vigilant, alert, and in control. However, she does her utmost. She manages to get her family through, but what is the cost for all of them, and most importantly, for her?

Of course, this kind of thing does happen in real life.

The only significant drawback of this book is its length. It takes a considerable amount of time to make one's way through it, and that extended period is also a particularly depressing and distressing one. So, readers should be cautioned, even though the story is told extremely well. It is a powerful and moving tale, but it comes with a heavy emotional price tag.