Tillerman cycle cynthia voigt diceys song

Gram soon comes to terms with having to accept Social Security payments to help with the costs of raising her four grandchildren. She also must confront and reexamine her past, particularly her relationship with her deceased husband and her three children. Gram refuses to discuss her past with the children, and their attempts to find out about it by climbing into the attic are met with anger.

As the children settle into the routines of their new school and after-school jobs, Gram receives a number of letters from the psychiatric hospital in which the children's catatonic mother resides. The letters do not appear to bring hopeful news, although Gram does not discuss their contents with the children. Dicey is frustrated that Gram will not open up and talk about her past, or their mother's past as a child growing up with her two siblings in the same house that Dicey and her brothers and sister are now living.

She is also frustrated that her grandmother will not tell her what is in the letters from Boston, beyond the fact that her mother is no better. In December, the psychiatric hospital in Boston calls and informs Gram that Liza is in a critical state and may not live much longer. Dicey and Gram travel to Boston, and find Liza catatonic, not responding to any treatment.

Liza soon dies and, since they can't afford the cost of a funeral or of transporting Liza's body from Boston to Crisfield, Gram and Dicey decide to cremate her. Dicey is given a hand-carved wooden box by the owner of a local gift store who is touched by her situation. When Dicey and Gram arrive back in Crisfield, the family buries the wooden box containing their mother's ashes under the paper mulberry tree in their front yard, which to the Tillermans is important to the family because of its fragility and beauty.

At the time of the book's publication, Kirkus Reviews said, "Through all the hardships, comforts, and passages, Dicey remains the sturdy presence we met in Homecoming; new [ sic ] she and Gram make a strong, crusty pair, and the other children come along according to their observantly individualized courses. A resilient family and a gratifying journey's end.

Is her reputation for eccentricity well deserved? The Tillerman children met many different people during the summer they spent traveling in search of a home. Who was most helpful to the children?

Tillerman cycle cynthia voigt diceys song

Does the fact that these people were only in their lives for a short time make them any less important? Why do you think the Tillermans enjoy their time with the circus? Bodies of water and boats both come up often in the Tillerman books. Find examples of these references. In what ways are they good metaphors for the Tillerman family?

Why is Dicey, especially, drawn to the water? What does it mean to the various characters to be part of a family? What obligations and responsibilities go along with this? Does it take a blood relation to be a family member? How do Dicey and James handle adversity? Does each child's method of dealing with trouble fit their personality? Do the other characters agree with this philosophy?

Can you think of a circumstance in which they followed this advice? The Tillerman family seems to have a legacy of poverty, mental illness, and failure. Do Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy share in this legacy? How does each of them attempt to rise above this? Activities and Research 1. Using a map, trace the route the children took in Homecoming.

Can you find an alternate route they could have taken? Research bus and train routes from Bridgeport to Crisfield and determine if the children could have gotten closer to their destination with the money they had. When their mother abandons them, the children are afraid they will be separated and put into foster care. Research the foster care system—when it was started, how it works, and if it is likely that the children would have been separated.

When Gram and Dicey bring her mother's ashes home from Boston, the broken family is nearly healed. The Runner is about Samuel "Bullet" Tillerman, Gram's son and the children's uncle, and takes place before any of the other books in the series. In Sons from AfarJames enlists his brother Sammy's help to find Francis Verricker, who may be the father who deserted them long ago.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Lingerle, her classmate Mina, and an older high school boy named Jeff. Gram's childhood friend, Millie Tydings, even hires Dicey to work at the grocery store she owns. Meanwhile, Gram has always been too proud to accept Social Security checks.

But with four grandchildren to care for, she finds she must swallow her pride to support the family. Request Study Guide.