Title: Dicey’s Song

Author: Cynthia Voight

Pages: 211

What I Thought: This is the 2nd book in the Tillerman series by Cynthia Voight.  It picks up where Homecoming ended, with the Tillerman kids being adopted by their grandma, and their life in Crisfield. 

They make some new friends along the ways- Mina, who goes to school with Dicey; Mr. Lingerle, who teaches music at Maybeth and Sammy’s school; and Jeff, who plays the guitar.

I didn’t like it nearly is much as Homecoming, mostly because Homecoming was good as a stand-alone novel.  I wasn’t invested in the characters enough to like Dicey’s Song. 

Dicey still has trouble letting go of her siblings, and letting their grandma be the parent.  The family still has some financial issues, as Dicey takes on an after-school job at the local grocery store, and their grandmother (Abigail) gets Social Security to help care for the 4 children. 

I wasn’t even moved when Liza, Dicey’s mom, died.  It was sad, of course, but it was expected.  Besides, from the few recollections in the book, it sounded like she wasn’t the best mom, and as said by James, she had truly died during the summer, when she had abandoned them. 

Rating: 2 out of 5.  I felt like everything I had liked about Homecoming was gone in Dicey’s Song.