HomecomingCynthia Voigt- Main CharactersDicey: Dicey is a leader, and she is forced to grow up too fast. She is just thirteen, but when her mother leaves her and her syblings alone in the car, she has to be their parent. She must work to pay for their journey, and lead them to a place where they can be safe. James: James is an intelligent boy, who helps Dicey whenever she needs. Dicey feels like she can trust James even though he is only ten because he is mature. He adapts well to public situations and finds himself fitting in easily with other students when he is enrolled in school.Maybeth: Maybeth is a quiet and shy girl, who has trouble talking and expressing herself in front of strangers. She is comfortable with Dicey and her brothers, and she is nine years old. Dicey knows she is smart, but many people think she might be retarted because she won´t speak up whenever she knows an answer. She sets out to prove that she doesn't have to get held back in school for another year.Sammy: Sammy is a six-year old boy who is energetic and loyal. He believes that Momma will come back, and that she will be okay. He plays recklessly, and tries to do what he can to help. He steals food and money for the family to use in times of need. In this way, he is daring in order to get what is necessary for his older syblings. Grandmother: Their grandmother is said to be rude and mentally ill, but they seek shelter at her house anyway. She is a rude woman, but she has some good in her, and she lets the children stay at her house longer than she wants because they work. She tries to teach the children lessons through punishments, but Dicey doesn't approve.Cousin Eunice: Cousin Eunice is a kind, frantic women. She is stressed all the time, and she is intent on having a perfectly neat house. She makes Dicey do endless house chores and punishes the little children. She is set on the fact that Maybeth is retarded, and she is angry at Sammy for fist fighting to stand up for himself. On the bright side, she provides food and shelter for the children in a time of need.Momma: Momma is a sweet, but crazed woman. She cares about her children, and she loves them, however she is extremely stressed because she is divorced and she has four children. All the stress drives her crazy, and she leaves her children in a mall parking lot in the car. - Plot: The four Tillerman children are living with their mom in a small house in Province Town, New Jersey. On a regular day, the family heads out to go to their Aunt´s house in Bridgeport. They stop at the mall, and their mom leaves them in the car while running into a store. However, she never returns. The children are struck with fear and devastation, and the oldest, Dicey, has to use a map to try to find the house of a relative. She will lead the children there on a journey. On the way, she must stop to make money, cook fish, or buy the least expensive food that she can find in stores because they have a very limited amount of money. Will they make it to their relative´s alive? More importantly, will they find the right people to trust?- Conflict and Resolution: The long journey on foot is the main conflict in this story. They have little money, food, and liquids to drink. They are very tired from all the walking, and they need food that they don't have. Dicey must let them stop to fish, and build a fire at different times, even though she wants to continue on. The children also struggle with finding the right gaurdian for them. Will they have to go on more than one journey to find someone who will love them in the right way? The conflict is resolved when they arrive at the house of a relative who is willing to take them in. They have found a home, and they are together which is the most important part. How does the gaurdian feel about having four children, though?- Opinion of the Book: I enjoyed reading this book. It was compelling because I always wanted to know if they had enough food and money, and I wanted to know what Dicey would decide to do. I think Dicey makes a lot of good choices about what is best for the family, and I enjoyed trying to figure out what she would decide. I also like how the children worked their hardest to prove things about themselves that they know were true. They were hardworking, and responsible children that never gave up. These are characteristics that I enjoy reading about in characters. Homecoming is a very exciting book, and it had a positive effect on me as a reader.
Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt, has changed my perspective on the way books are supposed to be like. I am usually looking for an adventurous, mystery book. However, after reading Homecoming, I noticed that adventure and mystery are not the only genres that make a satisfying story for me. Homecoming is an exceptional book that I would recommend to a friend. Homecoming is about a group of four children that have been abandoned by their mother. With only a little bit of money they must find there way to Bridgeport. The children's names are Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy. They all have specific qualities that result into a negative and positive impact. Although the story has made me very emotional, the beginning of the book seemed very unlikely to me. I think that four children wandering by themselves is a very noticeable observation. Even though the beginning strikes me as odd, I felt very sentimental when I read that the children were in search of a home. Despite the fact that the story is very well-written, it is also very wordy. This is the only negative statement I have to say about this book. Each of the children have many different characteristics. Dicey is a 13-year old girl that has the heart of a leader. She is brave, cautious, and responsible. James is a smart 11-year old boy. He loves to learn and make his own decisions. Maybeth is a very shy 9-year old girl. While everyone thinks she is retarded, her family believes that she can comprehend many knowledge. Whenever she makes a statement, it is usually very important.The youngest child is Sammy, a 6-year old boy. Sammy loves his Momma the most and was heart-broken when she abandoned them. He likes to stick up to himself and he tends to fight more than the other children. The four kids face many hardships on their way to Bridgeport. They have to worry about money, the police, and a shelter. At one point of the story, Dicey had ran out of money. The children were hungry and tired. At this point, I was losing hope on the children. I figured that they would never find real home.That's when Windy and Stuart came along. Windy and Stuart were college students that helped take the kids to Bridgeport. That is when the kids realize that there is no Aunt Cilla. Instead, a self- absorbed cousin that needs advice on everything. Her name was Eunice. She has dressed up Maybeth into her own "doll" and has talked to Dicey about Sammy's behavior in school. Dicey realizes that Cousin's Eunice's house was not a home. They set out to look for there crazy grandmother. I found this part of the story very favorable. I think it is very inspiring to see children giving up on a shelter to find a real home. When they meet there grandmother, their first impression is not excellent. When they start realizing that she is not that bad, the children and her become great friends. The grandmother goes by the name "Gram" and has provided a loving home. not only have the children found a new home, they found a new guardian that can take care of the children. Cynthia Voigt is an inspirational author that has made an interesting realistic story. She has made me change the kinds of book I enjoy to read. I would recommend this to a friend due to the outstanding writing. I love the book Homecoming and I would love to read it once more.
What do You think about Homecoming (2002)?
The four Tillerman children – the youngest six, the oldest (Dicey, the protagonist) thirteen – are left in a mall parking lot by their mentally ill mother. In charge and uncertain, Dicey leads her family across Connecticut to where a great-aunt lives. But after walking, hitching and working their way there, the four children find that the great-aunt is dead, and they still haven’t found a home.This is a powerful (and long, at 400 pages) young adult book, the first in a five-book series called the Tillerman cycle (the immediate sequel won the Newbery). While I raised an eyebrow at some of the events – I doubt four children could walk and camp alone with just the clothes on their backs across a state without being noticed by police or some inquisitive soul, for instance, and Dicey’s almost inhuman strength of will is hard to credit – it’s still a powerful and harrowing tale. The Tillermans’ plight wends its way to a truly moving conclusion; Voigt really knows how make her characters sympathetic.
—Ensiform
This book is one of those I read every few years and I'm never disappointed. It is a story of abandonment and resilience, and of healing. Dicey, age 13, leads her younger brothers and sister from Connecticut to the Maryland Eastern Shore when their mentally ill mother abandons them in a mall parking lot. The description of their walk along route 1 makes me weary and discouraged, and every time I read the book I want to go find them, bring them home and take care of them. This time I noted the descriptions of Sammy, the youngest child, who is 6 years old. Dicey remembers when he was small, how he would laugh, how happy he was. It is a hard book to read because it reminds me of all the small abandonments we inflict on our children even if we never leave them at the mall. I think this time I connected most with the grandmother. She married a difficult man but "Tillermans keep their promises" and she stuck by him even though it meant she lost all her children. He'd been dead 4 years when Dicey and her family showed up, and the grandmother acknowledged that she'd enjoyed being single, being selfish, being eccentric, not sharing her space and not worrying about anyone but herself. Not having to negotiate or compromise. But ultimately, the grandmother learned that keeping doors open is more important, even if its difficult and inconvenient. The book is one of a series with two Newberry winners - the entire bunch are well worth reading and re-reading.
—Ryan
From the moment I read the first pages, I couldn't get myself to stop reading. The only thing I really liked was Dicey and her personality. The story tells about Dicey and her three younger siblings who were abandoned by their mother in a mall parking lot. With both parents gone from their lives, Dicey decides to start a journey on foot to live off with their Great aunt Cilla whom they never met. Its the only way to stay together as a family otherwise they would end up in foster homes, separated. Even though Dicey is only thirteen, she has faith and determination to have her family stay together and to find a new home. From this reading experience, my opinion of a theme is "Belonging" because Dicey and her sibblings struggle to find a place where they belong but also searching for belonging within themselves. Dicey is my favorite character because she has determination in her blood; she's a fighter, a hardworker and even though she feels like giving up, she never ends up doing it. I consider her as a heroine because she shows a strong commitment to have her family survive and isn't scared of trying.
—Saira Gonzalez
