"Dicey's Song" by Cynthia Voigt

Even though it is a Newbery Award winning book, I wasn't as impressed with Cynthia Voigt's Dicey's Song.  I suppose I felt like it didn't have as much heart as Homecoming.  With Homecoming, I felt compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen with the Tillerman children but with Dicey's Song it was hard to feel as interested reading about school problems and other slightly mundane topics.

Now that they are settled in with their Grandmother, the Tillerman children focus their time on school and hobbies.  Dicey is a decent student, though she does not have a knack for home economics.  She gets a job after school to help bring in some income to cover her grandmother's newly acquired expenses and to provide an allowance for her siblings.  The four children begin to fit into a routine with their new lives.  I'm finding it difficult to insert interesting tidbits to include, there just weren't many.  Probably the only thing really worth reading is getting some closure with the Tillerman's mother.  It was nice to see that this storyline wasn't going to drag out through the entirety of the series, but even it didn't feel like it had a lot of emotion attached to it.  I guess this book felt like it didn't have as much heart in it, which really surprised me.  I must expect a lot out of the Newbery winners, but maybe this was just a slow year for books (I really don't know a whole lot about 1980s literature).  I plan on finishing the series so hopefully the storyline will pick up a bit.

Happy Reading!
-Melly