This is even more heartwrenching than the first book. The Tillermans are such strong characters. Onto book three. ( )

1983 Newbery Medal Winner

The story of Dicey Tillerman, who in the previous novel [b:Homecoming|12125|Homecoming (Tillerman Cycle, #1)|Cynthia Voigt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390250078s/12125.jpg|213788] (which I didn't read, but that was okay) led her family on a journey to find a new place to live after their single mother suffered a breakdown.

At the beginning of this novel, the four Tillerman kids have found their maternal grandma and settled onto her farm.

Due to Dicey's family's troubles and her position as leader of the other siblings, Dicey has developed a hard, guarded personality. Over the course of the novel, she argues her way into a part-time job, slowly makes some friends, works on fixing an old boat her grandma had, and learns what it means to feel safe, be vulnerable, and connect with others again. The other members of her family, including her grandma, experience a similar healing process.

The book is a slow character study that reminded me of the Newbery winner [b:Up a Road Slowly|65954|Up a Road Slowly|Irene Hunt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390965383s/65954.jpg|63954]. Both are coming-of-age stories featuring girls who have somehow been separated from their nuclear families and must come to terms with the sharp edges in their own personalities. However, the main characters and the details of their circumstances are different. I loved both books, but Dicey's Song would win in a fight in terms of characterization, dialogue, and description. The characters behave and talk the way that real people do, and on an even subtler level than the characters in Up a Road Slowly. The story is honest about people who don't fit, the way families function and communicate, mental illness, death, and sex (on an innocent prepubescent level).

I especially loved it that Dicey was a tomboy, but learned that it's okay to try to do typically feminine tasks like sewing. The author wasn't pushing any particular message about gender; the message there seemed to be more that we shouldn't stereotype in any way and that it's best to be open and try lots of different things in order to become a well-rounded adult. I appreciated this as a woman who has never liked being pushed into "feminine" activities (in fact, like Dicey I am stubborn and don't like being pushed to do anything, in any way), so I found some affirmation and value in this theme.

I also loved the scene involving Dicey's English teacher and the story she wrote about her mother. Best ever.

Barbara Caruso is great as the narrator of the audiobook. She separates the characters' voices well and is one of those narrators who is good at getting her own personality out of the way to let the story shine through. The sound balance was good too--not too loud, not too quiet.

There was really nothing I didn't like about this book. It reflects truth, like good art should (one of the themes of the [b:I, Juan de Pareja|847581|I, Juan de Pareja|Elizabeth Borton de Treviño|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1311971236s/847581.jpg|1135948])--the truth that life can be full of horrible suffering, but as long as we both "hold on" and "let go," we can be okay. ( )

I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to. I love Gram, and Wilhelmina. I'm adding the book to my to-reread list, and am, in fact, considering reading the next book(s?) about the Tillermans.

My farm grandma definitely did things her way. She didn't teach much wisdom, like Ab did, for example about reaching out with open hands. But she shared a sense of joy and an ability to be playful. We'd lay down in the yard and find four leaf clovers (well, she did, I didn't). Or she'd teach me how to whistle a grass blade, or use twine and a button to make a spinner. And she always had a few pansies in one corner of the large vegetable garden. And we had chickens one year, but when they turned out to be too much work, we just stopped... it was an experiment, and it's ok that it failed.

Music is also a very important part of this book (and the previous one, too). Of course I had to look up one of the songs, which turns out to have two titles, one of which is The Riddle Song (of course). But I'm curious about the others, too. I think they're all folk tunes? But maybe not? ( )

#1363 in our old book database. Rated: Good.
Adele rated: Good. ( )

{my thoughts} - This is only the second book in the series. But it is heartfelt, it is about trial and error in attempting to gain the love and upstanding of a relative that otherwise would not want you in their lives. It touches your heart when you read about Dicey finally seeing her mother again and having to accept that there is nothing left of her. It is sad when she dies but it's alright to because it allows for the children to move on with their lives without having to worry about where their mother is or isn't - after all she wasn't in her right mind considering that she just left them abandoned in a car ---- It's a wonderful book, worth reading and it helps to teach others that where there is determination there is a way and it doesn't hurt to result to old fashion hard labor in order to attempt to get things done. ( )