Rating: 
Summary: Dicey's Song Book Review
Review: Dicey's Song is a great book that shows you the meaning of responsibility, love, and caring. Follow Dicey as she finally finds a home for herself and her brothers and sister, James, Maybeth, and Sammy. They live with their Grandma in Crisfield, Maryland. She sends them to school to get a better eduacation. Dicey starts to have some friends, James can read more often, Maybeth gets piano lessons, while Sammy tries to improve his behavior. This story tells how the Tillerman children find true family, but also have to let go of others.
Rating:
Summary: Letting Go
Review: Dicey's Song is a depressing story about a thirteen year old girl who must learn how necessary it is to let go. Her mother is faced with a mental illness and Dicey is left as the caretaker of the rest of the Tillerman family. When her grandmother adopts the four Tillermans, Dicey discovers that she no longer has to take care of her three younger siblings. She makes new friends and relationships as she begins to relax and enjoy life as a thirteen year old girl. As she slowly adapts to her new way of life, Dicey and her grandmother rush to Boston. What's wrong? Is her mother's condition getting worse? Is she ready to come home? Dicey's worries come back and she must face the overwhelming pain of letting go. I recommend this book to anyone. Dicey's Song is an easy read and it teaches people to live their life to the fullest. The past should not interfere with the present or the future. People should learn from the past and use their knowledge to better their lives in the future.
f
Rating: 
Summary: Dicey's Song
Review: As I picked up this book I grew enthralled, watching Dicey, the main character, develop a more interesting personality. If Homecoming, the first book in this series was about the Tillerman family finding an identity, this book was about Dicey finding her identity. Throughout the plodding plot of this book, there are many twists and turns, but the amazing thing that Cynthia Voigt creates are the emotions. As I read this book I would be as annoyed at Gram or Sammy as Dicey, or as happy to see Mina, a friend. Another great aspect of this book, that I touched upon, were the characters. Aside from Dicey, this book is overflowing with characters so vivid you expect to see them sitting next to you. Overall, this was a splendid book, which anyone would enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Letting Go
Review: This is the continuation of _Homecoming_. It's a great story of how to hold on and let go at the same time. Dicey has to learn how to hold on the love and care she has for James, Maybeth, and Sammy while learning to let go of the control she had on them during their journey to Gram's house. Jeff (from _A Solitary Blue_) is introduced, and it is interesting to read their conversations from both books simultaneously in order to get the full effect. I highly recommend _Dicey's Song_ and I liked it even better than _Homecoming_.
Rating:
Summary: Dicey's Song
Review: This story is very inspiring. It takes place after it's sequal, Homecoming. During this book, dicey and her brothers and sister find a place that they want to settle down and live. The only trick now is how to convince their "crazy" Grandmother to let them stay with her. This is all made harder by their mom who is in a mental hospital and my never recover. This is an amazing story of how this girl can live with such hardships.
The main setting is of the run down farm which helps the reader see how tough it must be to live with her Grandmother. One moral that the author may be trying to impress on us about Gran is you can't always tell a book by its cover. Even though she looks a little wacky, she is actally a very loving and generous person. This is a wonderful book for anyone of any age and I would highy recommend it to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Holding on--Reaching out--Letting go
Review: What is the best way to raise and protect your family of 3 younger siblings, while tryng to establish a rapport of love and trust with your crusty grandmother? These are some of the challenges facing 13-year-old Dicey Tillerman, who has brought her brood to rest permanently (?) with long-lost Gram. But it is
hard for her to surrender her role of Facilitator for them all, after spending months on the road like fugitives that past summer in HOMECOMING. Of course Dicey must deal with normal problems as well: budding womanhood, a new school,
demanding teachers, kids who might want to become friends, when
she would prefer to function alone. How can she handle all this pressure, since she has not had the luxury of responsive or responsible adult role models? Sammy suddenly gets into fights at school and Maybeth's teacher is concerned that she may have a learning disability. All these issues delay Dicey in the execution of her dream project: to sand and sail an old boat she has found in the barn. Will feisty Gram ever come around and act like she truly loves the Tillerman kids--or does she even like them? Are they a too painful reminder of her own vanished offpspring? How many strangers should Dicey permit to enter their lives, for she is used to keeping the world at bay. It fell to Dicey alone to shepherd them from a Massachusetts mall (where their mentally-disturbed mother had abandoned them)
down to Connecticut and thence to Virgina's Chesapeake Bay. How can she bear to give up the social and emotional power that was abruptly thrust into her hands at a tender age? How will Gram--with her reputation for being crazy--react to these lively youngsters and their new problems, which may remind her of the painful past? From three who vanished to four who suddenly appeared--it is a journey of soul-seeking and emotional coming of age for Gram. This is one sequel which is truly worthy of the original, but it is easier to understand and appreciate if read in chronological sequence. A thought-provoking book about family dynamics.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt is an easy read for any girls age 11-14. This book is definitely a girl book. You can really relate to Dicey because although her obstacles in life are different than the average girl her age, she still struggles in life like the rest of us girls. Dicey, along with her two younger brothers, Sammy and James, and her younger sister, Maybeth, experience loss, love, happiness, and sadness together. Dicey's childhood was a very difficult one, one in a very poor family, a single mother, and problems at school. Then Dicey's mom runs away, and is later found to be in an asylum for the crazy. The four Tillerman kids are sent to live with their grandmother (Gram) that they had never met, on her farm. The little ones are adapting well and Dicey's happy, but she is learning that with Momma she had to play the role of parent. Although now with Gram she can be a little kid again Dicey seems to be okay with that, and you can really tell that, that is what she wants, to be taken care of, like a little kid instead of taking care of the little ones like she's used to. The four of them are doing fine. James is doing great in school, as usual, Sammy isn't getting into too many fights at school, and Maybeth, aside from her struggle with reading (which James is helping her fix) is doing good and is excelling in her piano lessons. Dicey is doing pretty good in school and she is even making a couple friends to be with. Dicey is with her friends sometimes during her free time, although she doesn't have much free time with school, homework, and her job working for one of Gram's childhood friends at the general store.
Now the Tillermans are in a safe home, but is it permanent? What's going to happen if Gram decides that she doesn't want to adopt the kids for good? Where will they live? Also Gram has told Dicey that they are going up to Boston, but why? Is it to visit Momma? Maybe she's better, or maybe worse.
I recommend this book to any girl age 11-14, who just wants a fun easy read.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Story
Review: This book is about the spunky antagonist of Homecoming, Dicey, as she tries to become more of a normal teenager after having to take on a un-normal role for such a long time. The beginning is kind of slow-paced, but it gets a lot better. Dicey's Song is not for those who like only adventure stories, and find books that actually delve into the character's personality "boring". I normally don't like sentimental books myself, but Dicey's Song is much more than that. It's uplifting and upsetting, happy and sad, just as the heroine is a contradictory character, struggling with love, family, tragedy,life, and everything in between.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: I thought that Dicey's Song! It is just the type of book I like, realistic fiction. I could NEVER put the book down. And I guarantee you won't be able to either! I liked it so much, one morning I got up at 6 am so I could finish it. I plan on reading the rest of Tillerman cycle because of Dicey's Song.I would recommend this to ever girl aged 12-14. Once again, it was excellent!
Rating:
Summary: Almost a real life story
Review: Dicey's Song seems like someone's real life -- When the children of the Tillerman family arrive at their grandma's house, 13-year-old Dicey, the oldest of the children, had a new challenge: to let go of the sadness in her mind. One of things that bother her is about her mother who is very sick in a Boston hospital. Her family is poor and Dicey decides to help by getting a job in a grocery store. Dicey's sister, Maybeth of 8-year-old, has a problem with her reading skills. Dicey and her grandma are worried how she does in school. Maybeth finds that she has a talent for music and gets two piano lessons a week from her music teacher. After finding her true talent she worries less and does better in school. 10-year-old James is a good and bright student, but he is also an excellent paperboy. With more money from James' paper route and Dicey's job, the Tillermans are fed and clothed daily. 7-year-old Sammy has made friends with many local boys and has been getting used to his new home. Over time Dicey gets used to her surroundings and makes lots of friends at home and school. Although I felt this book is kinda boring, it does reflect "real life".
|
