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Homecoming
(Tillerman Cycle #1)
by
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.
But ...more
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.
But ...more
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Paperback, 416 pages
Published
August 1st 2002
by Simon Pulse
(first published 1981)
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Popular Answered Questions
Katie Carter
No, this book has four children, Dicey, James, Sammy, and Maybeth.
Community Reviews
Showing 1-59
Start your review of Homecoming (Tillerman Cycle, #1)
Ah....Homecoming. This is one of the few books I read in junior high that I still love reading from time to time.
The book is the story of Dicey, a young teen, and her three siblings. Their mother, who is suffering from poverty and mental illness, abandons them in her old beat up car in the mall parking lot. After waiting for her to come back and realizing that she isn't going to, Dicey takes charge. With the little money they have, they decide to take a journey to find some relatives up north. ...more
The book is the story of Dicey, a young teen, and her three siblings. Their mother, who is suffering from poverty and mental illness, abandons them in her old beat up car in the mall parking lot. After waiting for her to come back and realizing that she isn't going to, Dicey takes charge. With the little money they have, they decide to take a journey to find some relatives up north. ...more
“Nobody could be Home, really, until he was in his grave. Nobody could rest, really, until then.”
What a delectable and fun read!
Dicey and her sister and two brothers are left behind in the family car in a mall car park by their mother who doesn’t return.
“Remember how she’d go out and not come back for hours? I think she got lost outside those times, the way she was lost inside.”
They were supposedly on their way to stay with their great Aunt Cilla in Bridgeport. Dicey takes it upon herself t ...more
What a delectable and fun read!
Dicey and her sister and two brothers are left behind in the family car in a mall car park by their mother who doesn’t return.
“Remember how she’d go out and not come back for hours? I think she got lost outside those times, the way she was lost inside.”
They were supposedly on their way to stay with their great Aunt Cilla in Bridgeport. Dicey takes it upon herself t ...more
May 04, 2019
Hilary
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those who love stories about children coping on their own
Recommended to Hilary by:
Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan
We spent such an enjoyable few days with these characters. Four siblings from a poor background have a single mum who is struggling and one day things just get too much.
Without spoiling the plot the rest of the book is about the children, largely on their own struggling to find a way to live and stay together. This book is long and we really felt we got to know these characters and their very individual personalities. We loved following their journey, being with them through their hardships, mee ...more
Without spoiling the plot the rest of the book is about the children, largely on their own struggling to find a way to live and stay together. This book is long and we really felt we got to know these characters and their very individual personalities. We loved following their journey, being with them through their hardships, mee ...more
I read this book in my early teen's and recently bought it for my daughter.
I loved this book when I was young! The book is about Dicey and her three younger siblings who were abandoned by their mother in a mall parking lot. Worried about being split up and sent to foster care they decide their only option is to go on foot to find their Great Aunt Cilla whom they've never met.
I found it well written with an easy to read gripping storyline. I could visualize all that was happening to these childr ...more
I loved this book when I was young! The book is about Dicey and her three younger siblings who were abandoned by their mother in a mall parking lot. Worried about being split up and sent to foster care they decide their only option is to go on foot to find their Great Aunt Cilla whom they've never met.
I found it well written with an easy to read gripping storyline. I could visualize all that was happening to these childr ...more
There are some characters in novels that stick with you all of your life.
Do you know what I mean?
We all remember Ramona Quimby - right?
People fall in love with Harry Potter and Frodo and Lucy Pevensie. Maybe you can't forget Oliver Twist or that one big guy in Of Mice and Men.
I remember a girl named Dicey as if we were next door neighbors or first cousins.
She and her siblings are the main characters in a book series by Cynthia Voight. The first novel is Homecoming and the storyline shocked me as ...more
Do you know what I mean?
We all remember Ramona Quimby - right?
People fall in love with Harry Potter and Frodo and Lucy Pevensie. Maybe you can't forget Oliver Twist or that one big guy in Of Mice and Men.
I remember a girl named Dicey as if we were next door neighbors or first cousins.
She and her siblings are the main characters in a book series by Cynthia Voight. The first novel is Homecoming and the storyline shocked me as ...more
May 13, 2007
Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone who likes a good kids' book, especially girls & women
This is an exciting and heartfelt story about a strong girl and her younger siblings who are “on their own” when they’re apparently abandoned by their mother. I’ve always loved tales of kids left on their own (see A Long Way To Go, etc.) and this is a particularly good book with a compelling main character.
This book grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Unstable single mom drives to the mall and has the kids stay in the car. The mall closes, and she is nowhere to be found. The kids know that if they go to the police, they will be split up into separate foster care. So, using every resource they possess, they head to the one relative they think might take them in, no matter that she is several states away.
What a desperate, gripping situation. Spare, elegant writing makes it incredibly powerful. This won ...more
What a desperate, gripping situation. Spare, elegant writing makes it incredibly powerful. This won ...more
There have been quite a few stories that contained bits and pieces of the kind of material to be found in "Homecoming", but quite honestly I would have to contend that not one of them can compare to this book.
Cynthia Voigt has masterfully crafted a story that is SO totally complete and resonates in every way possible that I truly think that not even the world's greatest author could have improved upon this book. The author touches on so many themes in such surprising depth that a shorter book s ...more
Cynthia Voigt has masterfully crafted a story that is SO totally complete and resonates in every way possible that I truly think that not even the world's greatest author could have improved upon this book. The author touches on so many themes in such surprising depth that a shorter book s ...more
Not enough superlatives for this one.
I avidly read the Tillerman cycle (seven books) several years ago, and since then, have constantly recommended them to others. My sister finally took me up on that, and two volumes in, agrees that Voigt and her characters and stories are worth the praise. However, she listened to 'Homecoming' and 'Dicey's Song,' and raved about Barbara Caruso's narration.
So now, thanks to my sister, I have had the treat of revisiting a good friend, as well as seeing (hearing) ...more
I avidly read the Tillerman cycle (seven books) several years ago, and since then, have constantly recommended them to others. My sister finally took me up on that, and two volumes in, agrees that Voigt and her characters and stories are worth the praise. However, she listened to 'Homecoming' and 'Dicey's Song,' and raved about Barbara Caruso's narration.
So now, thanks to my sister, I have had the treat of revisiting a good friend, as well as seeing (hearing) ...more
I had forgotten so much of this book and it was a delight to revisit it with the girls.
“Homecoming” by Cynthia Voigt is an adventurous, realistic, and moving story. This is one of my favorite book because it teaches the reader many lessons, on how to, be grateful for what you have. It starts off with four kids named Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy Tillerman who are in search for a home after their mother abandoned them. Dicey is a courageous, smart 13 year old girl. James is a smart, intelligent 10 year old boy. Maybeth is a pretty and shy 9 year old girl, who is smarter than she
...more
I spent most of my 7th grade year talking about how boring this book was and how much I disliked it. I reread it for the SSR Podcast (the premise being rereading books from your childhood and see how they hold up/don't hold up) and I'm pleased to say my 7th grade self was on the money. This was torturously boring.
And then there's the bizarre scene where Dicey and her brother talk about girls not wearing bras and having jiggly boobs? Or the time she talks about her other brother's penis bobbing ...more
And then there's the bizarre scene where Dicey and her brother talk about girls not wearing bras and having jiggly boobs? Or the time she talks about her other brother's penis bobbing ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
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 th ...more
This is a powerful (and long, at 400 pages) young adult book, the first in a five-book series called th ...more
This is a hard read. Here's a book that expounds on a topic most books resolve in the first two chapters, and it's painful and heartbreakingly realistic. Here's a protagonist that's always in motion, always steeled for disappointment and hardship. Here's every difficult mile and every frustrating delay of a long journey - with no safe haven at the end. (Though that depends on your definition of safety, I suppose. It wasn't enough by Dicey's standards.) And then there's yet another journey, and y
...more
I'd read Dicey's Song when I was a kid, and I never realized it actually was a sequel to Homecoming.
Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sam Tillerman are abruptly left on their own when their mother abandons them and the car in a mall parking lot. When it becomes clear that their mother isn't coming back, thirteen-year-old Dicey conceives a daring and dangerous plan: since they know that they were on their way to live with their Aunt Cilla in Bridgeport, they will continue the journey on foot. It's a thr ...more
Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sam Tillerman are abruptly left on their own when their mother abandons them and the car in a mall parking lot. When it becomes clear that their mother isn't coming back, thirteen-year-old Dicey conceives a daring and dangerous plan: since they know that they were on their way to live with their Aunt Cilla in Bridgeport, they will continue the journey on foot. It's a thr ...more
Feb 11, 2021
Jeanette Asbury
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
52-books-club-2018-challenge,
young-adult
This has always been one of my favorite books read as a teenager. I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to read it again!
The book Homecoming has its ups and down with my attention and curiosity but overall my opinion of the book is a mix of “I liked it” and “It’s boring”. Also my opinion of how Cynthia Voigt uses details and description in the book is a mix also, because sometimes it is needed, but sometimes its just there to string out the book. But generally I really liked the book.
At the beginning of the book, the book was exciting because when do you hear about four children getting abandoned by their mother, ...more
Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt is a book about four children (Dicey, Sammy, Maybeth, and James) looking for the right home after their mother abandons them in a parking lot.
For me this was an ok book, it isn’t one of my favorites but I did like some parts of it. This book had its good and bad, for example I liked how the author described scenes, the figurative language, and the characters she made. I enjoyed reading the part with Mr. Rudyard because his actions and words surely grabbed my attent ...more
For me this was an ok book, it isn’t one of my favorites but I did like some parts of it. This book had its good and bad, for example I liked how the author described scenes, the figurative language, and the characters she made. I enjoyed reading the part with Mr. Rudyard because his actions and words surely grabbed my attent ...more
This book took me quite a while to read, but it wasn’t because it was a bad story at all; for some reason, I was just content to read at a slower pace than normal. I felt like the book did a good job of portraying what kids might actually do if they were in the situation of the Tillermans. It was interesting to see how they dealt with basic necessities, like food, money, and shelter. I enjoyed getting to know all four kids as the story progressed. I don’t know if I’ll read the whole series, but
...more
Mar 24, 2010
Anne Davis
rated it
did not like it
Recommended to Anne Davis by:
Summer Reading
Shelves:
coming-of-age,
school-reads
I HATED this book!
I hated this book. Sorry to anyone who likes it, I felt it was not well written.
My friend Megan has been singing praises to Cynthia Voight's Tillerman Cycle for as long as I've known her. When she pointed out that Homecoming was part of the fantastic children's book sale on Audible (seriously, I bought 10 books for $30), I decided it was time to finally read it.
The four Tillerman children are abandoned in a mall parking lot. When their mother doesn't return, they worry that they will be split up if they go to the police, so they set out to walk all the way to their grea ...more
The four Tillerman children are abandoned in a mall parking lot. When their mother doesn't return, they worry that they will be split up if they go to the police, so they set out to walk all the way to their grea ...more
This is what could be called An Oldie But a Goodie...
Written in 1981, and set on the eastern seaboard of the US, Homecoming tells the story of four siblings who are abandoned by their mother in a car park.
The eldest, Dicey, makes a decision to walk to where they had been headed when their mum left them... Great-Aunt Cilla's house in Bridgeport.
To cut a long story short, it is a story of survival, hope, strength and courage - and Dicey is a wonderfully strong female character who is an inspirat ...more
Written in 1981, and set on the eastern seaboard of the US, Homecoming tells the story of four siblings who are abandoned by their mother in a car park.
The eldest, Dicey, makes a decision to walk to where they had been headed when their mum left them... Great-Aunt Cilla's house in Bridgeport.
To cut a long story short, it is a story of survival, hope, strength and courage - and Dicey is a wonderfully strong female character who is an inspirat ...more
This book was a really great journey for the characters and me as the reader. It was almost as if I was a member of the Tillerman family, and I went through the ups and downs throughout the plot of the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone in the need of a good realistic fiction book.
A sweet story about four children abandoned by their mentally ill mother and their search for a new home. In comparison to other YA novels, this one is innocent - a little too white washed though. I loved the ending - enough to continue on to Book 2 in the series.
Jul 09, 2020
Elizabeth Meadows
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audio-books-2020
This was my second time listening to this and it was every bit as good as I remembered.
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 w ...more
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 w ...more
So, I knew people who were obsessed with these books when I was younger. Homecoming and Dicey's Song were held up there with Judy Blume's books as being THE books for young girls . . . and somehow I never read them. I dunno . . . the old covers just weren't that appealing. And the weird thing is, I've read and loved almost every other book by Cynthia Voigt. Jackaroo? I can't count the number of times I've read that one. And The Callander Papers? Still a favorite! But the Tillerman books just see
...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA Realistic Fiction; Teen sister disguises herself as a boy to protect siblings from foster care and homelessness. [s] | 6 | 26 | Jun 22, 2020 09:03PM | |
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA - Missing/Lost/Runaway Siblings. [s] | 5 | 26 | Feb 24, 2019 09:35AM | |
| Bookwarts Club of...: January 2017 Mileage Goal + Discussion - Spoilers | 20 | 22 | Feb 05, 2017 11:57AM | |
| What do you think happened to the mom | 6 | 46 | Jul 08, 2016 03:38AM |
Readers also enjoyed
Cynthia Voigt is an American author of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse.
Awards:
Angus and Sadie: the Sequoyah Book Award (given by readers in Oklahoma), 2008
The Katahdin Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Anne V. Zarrow Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Margaret Edwards Award, for a body of work, 1995
Jackaroo: Ratte ...more
Awards:
Angus and Sadie: the Sequoyah Book Award (given by readers in Oklahoma), 2008
The Katahdin Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Anne V. Zarrow Award, for lifetime achievement, 2003
The Margaret Edwards Award, for a body of work, 1995
Jackaroo: Ratte ...more
Other books in the series
Tillerman Cycle
(7 books)
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