Dicey's Song
Ratings6
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings6
Average rating3.8
When Momma abandoned Dicey Tillerman and her three siblings in a mall parking lot and was later traced to an asylum where she lay unrecognizing, unknowing, 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. Grams rundown farm isnt perfect, but they can stay together as a family which is all Dicey really wanted.
But after watching over the others for so long, its hard for Dicey to know what to do now. Her own identity has been so wrapped up in being the caretaker, navigator, penny counter, and decision maker that shes 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.
Reviews with the most likes.
I avoided this book for a long time because I had heard it was too upsetting for children. Yes, it is a sad book. And it might be too sad for some children. But there are lots and lots of children who would like to hear this story.
Dicey and her three siblings have come to live with their grandmother. Their mother is in a mental hospital; their father skipped out before Dicey's youngest brother, Sammy, was born.
There are lots of problems to overcome. Dicey's sister, Maybeth, isn't learning like she should in school. James, Dicey's brother, hides how smart he is in order to fit in. Sammy gets into fights. People talk about and tease the children about Gram. Dicey, like Gram, has learned to feign indifference.
The whole Tillerman clan slowly works on all these problems, talking together, singing together, making new friends, working, building a boat.
Now I'm anxious to see what my readers of realistic fiction at school think of this book.
