Share for friends:

Dicey's Song (2003)

Dicey's Song (2003)

Book Info

Author
Genre
Rating
3.92 of 5 Votes: 5
Your rating
ISBN
0689863624 (ISBN13: 9780689863622)
Language
English
Publisher
aladdin paperbacks

About book Dicey's Song (2003)

When I was at the library looking at the spine of this book I noticed how well worn and tattered it was,(a sure sign the book has been checked out many times). I began to scratch the back of my head wondering "Do I really want to read this again and run the risk of ruining my image of the book? " I took the plunge anyways and once I started to read again my doubts faded away. This book ALWAYS makes my heart go all fuzzy.Dicey's song is the sequel to Homecoming (another great read), but I had read this one first and I had no trouble following it. I'm certain must young adult readers would find this book somewhat boring with all these high action books we have now (Don't get me wrong I love reading those too!) Every once in awhile I like reading something that touches what life is all about. I'm convinced that the Tillerman family is real. When I read this moving story the first time I wanted to be Dicey. You get her and sympathize with her even if she is a little rough around the edges. She cares little about what other people think and strives to do right by her family and herself. Being twelve years old in the book, this is no small feat. She really is wise beyond her years. Every single character is drawn out perfectly. From funny Sammy all the way to tough loving Gram.I feel the love and the care come from this family through the pages. Voight does all this without using any kind of pretentious language. That's real talent. I have no complaints. Wouldn't change a single word. My review doesn't even touch the surface of doing it justice.

31 1983: Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt (Atheneum)5/20/13 211 pages - smaller print than others - As I read Dicey's Song, I wondered about what had happened in the past and watched for it to be revealed later in the book. This was more or less the case, but after finishing the book, I discovered that it was the second in a series. No wonder, I felt like I was joining the book mid-stream.Regardless of that, the book was a thoughtful and entertaining read. It is the story of a young teenager who keeps her brothers and sister together after her mom breaks down with mental illness. In the previous book, she has gotten them to her grandmother's house and the five of them forge together a new family while dealing with some weighty problems. A quote that brings tears to my eyes as I type it is, "What did it matter then if he was getting into fights, or Mayeth never learned to read, or James pretended to be less smart than he was? Nothing mattered nearly as much as sitting together around this table, in the warm yellow light, all of them together." (p. 111)My personal Newbery scale:Meaningt+Read-aloudt-Agest^Lengtht^Met+

Do You like book Dicey's Song (2003)?

This is the second in what has become called the Tillerman Series. I would recommend NOT reading these books as a series but as a the same setting from different perspectives.Again, I connected with the grandmother most, though I enjoyed the overall idea of children being capable and competent. Given the opportunity, kids come up with pretty amazing solutions. They shouldn't have to worry about whether they will eat or where they will sleep, but they should be allowed and encouraged to participate in their own upbringing, and included as valued partners. It was the keeping doors open aspect that caught me in this book, as in Homecoming. Gram made choices that pushed her children away and they never came back. One son died in Vietnam. Another was in California and she'd never responded to his wedding invitation, and believed the door was closed. The last contact with her daughter was to hold her hand as she died in a state mental institution. But the going and holding her child's hand was important and held the door open even though no one would walk through.
—Ryan

I really liked this book. Although it doesn't have the excitement and adventure of other stories, it is still a good story. It is a very human story with characters that are relate-able and human. I think Dicey is a great character and her siblings have all been forced to grow up before thier time, because their mother had a "mental illness." It wasn't disclosed exactly what she had, but felt that some of her actions were really selfish, like not sending her children to her aunt's or her mother's sooner. But then of course we wouldn't have a story....
—Ricci

Without Homecoming, I can see that this book would lose some of its weight. But as a sequel, I found it fantastic and just as compelling. (Perhaps reading the two back to back helped that feeling.) Dicey is a great character, and there are still so many unanswered questions and avenues yet to be explored in her life. I can't wait to read more of the series. I often find that I'm most excited about a book just after I finish it, and then my excitement cools. We'll see if that happens here. Usually, I want my highest rated books to be ones that have sticking power with me. They're typically full of interesting characters and plot, but also have powerful life lessons, compelling and extraordinary writing, and one-liner quotations that ring true and beg to be copied down or underline. They're the books I mark up and add notes to in the margins. But sometimes I read books that, while not leading me to mark them, are still wonderful reads and have many of, if not all, the elements I'm looking for. With these books, I often second guess my first reactions and rate them lower than I initially feel. Perhaps it shouldn't be that way. With that in mind, I'll just say that this feels like a five-star book to me now, and perhaps the initial reaction should be the best one from which to judge.
—Megan

download or read online

Read Online

Write Review

(Review will shown on site after approval)

Other books by author Cynthia Voigt

Other books in series tillerman cycle

Other books in category Romance