Homecoming Tillerman

Homecoming tells the tale of the four Tillerman children and their quest to find ‘home’. One day, their mother abandons them at a shopping center and instructs them to go to their Aunt Cilla’s house which is a great distance away. Due to their circumstances, they are forced to walk there and hope for the best. Dicey, the oldest of the Tillerman children and protagonist of the story, leads her three younger siblings on their journey. Though, at times, her siblings James, Maybeth, and Sammy do not make this an easy task for her. James Tillerman is the second oldest and the smartest of the bunch. Maybeth is quiet and shy, which can sometimes cause issues for her. Sammy is the youngest. He is stubborn and quarrelsome. These children face a myriad

It was certainly not confusing. Ms. Voigt wrote in a manner that was thorough and easy to comprehend. Nor was it predictable. At moments, I thought that I knew exactly what was going to occur next, only to find out I was completely wrong. This book never ceased to surprise me. Homecoming was neither too hard to read, or too easy. I found it to be just right. There were a select few words that I was unfamiliar with that posed as a challenge, nevertheless by utilizing context clues I was easily able to decipher their meanings. The author managed to present the story in a way so that it was completely believable. Frankly, I would not have been surprised to learn that it was based off real-life events. I liked the ending more than most. It was joyous, but not the stereotypical happily ever after ending that author’s often resort to. Even in the end, there were still challenges to be faced. Additionally, the ending possessed a form of wholesomeness which cannot be simply described by words. As I read it, I knew that this ending was the perfect fit to the story. A tragic ending would not have fit. Nor would one that was too easy for the characters. Voigt found one that made the story complete. The ending fit with the life that the Tillerman’s led. Nothing was held to them on a silver platter, they had to work rigorously for it. Just as they had to work to maintain their position in Gram’s household. For their problems to end

Out of five stars, I believe Homecoming is a solid 4. I found the plot of Homecoming to be wholesome. The main issue introduced in the beginning was resolved in the end. Readers find out what happens to almost all the characters and there is no form of a cliff-hanger. Another thing that I liked about the story was how easy to understand it was while remaining interesting. Voigt uses strong, occasionally complex words, but not unnecessarily. Not only that, but the story portrays a variety of clear, positive themes. It did not take much effort to identify what the themes of the story were. All the themes present in Homecoming were valuable and encouraging. Something that I did not find as appealing about the story was that the book was rather long for my taste. There were some scenes that I found to be unnecessary to developing the plot and its themes. For example, every time Dicey buys anything, there is a long description of her decision process. While I understand that these scenes emphasize the strictness of her budget and the responsibilities Dicey bears, I do not think it had to be included in every shopping experience. Scenes like that felt more to me as filler rather than an actual part of the story. Overall, Homecoming was an exceptional book that I do not regret