Dicey's Song
When Momma abandoned Dicey Tillerman and her three siblings in a mall parking lot, she left her four children no choice but to get on by themselves. They set off alone on foot over hundreds of miles until they finally found someone to take them in. Gram's rundown farm isn't perfect, but they can stay together as a family—which is all Dicey really wanted.
But after watching over the others for so long, it's hard for Dicey to know what to do next. Her own identity has been so wrapped up in being the caretaker, navigator, penny counter, and decision maker that she's not sure how to let go of some responsibilities while still keeping a sense of herself. But when the past comes back with devastating force, Dicey sees just how necessary—and painful—letting go can be.
Newbery Medal (1983)
About the Tillerman Cycle Series
Books in series order
- 1.Homecoming(1981)
- 2.Dicey's Song(1982)
- 3.A Solitary Blue(1983)
- 4.The Runner(1985)
- 5.Come a Stranger(1986)
- 6.Sons from Afar(1987)
- 7.Seventeen Against the Dealer(1989)
Reading age: 11+ years
This series should be read in order.
It's still true . . .
That's the first thing James Tillerman says to his sister Dicey every morning. It's still true that their mother has abandoned the four Tillerman children somewhere in the middle of Connecticut. It's still true they have to find their way, somehow, to Great-aunt Cilla's house in Bridgeport, which may be their only hope of staying together as a family.
With just eleven dollars to their name, the children—aged between six and thirteen—set off on a journey across America towards an uncertain future. Will their resourcefulness and their love for one another be enough to survive? This celebrated series by Newbery award-winning author Cynthia Voigt is heartfelt, shocking and thoroughly engrossing.
A Note on the Reading Order:
The only book to have a definite reading order is the first, Homecoming, as the narratives of the other books overlap. Dicey's Song, A Solitary Blue, and Come a Stranger are the most interlocked and can be read in any order following Homecoming and before Sons from Afar and Seventeen Against the Dealer. The Runner is a stand-alone prequel, the events of which take place approximately ten years before Homecoming.