Dicey's Song

I read Dicey's Song because the freshman English teacher is thinking about using it and asked me what I thought. I liked it and I highly recommend it as a good YA novel for any age, ninth probably being the best grade for it to be taught.

The four Tillerman children have been abandoned by their mother who is now institutionalized and have come to live with their grandmother who plans to adopt them. Dicey's Song explores how each of the children are coming to grips with their unique situation. Maybeth, who struggles to read and do math, finds herself through music. She excels at it, and Grandma and Dicey see that she is not "retarded," and manage to afford the music lessons for her. Sammy, after struggling with fighting at school, finds that his Grandma is very wise and her defeat of all of the second graders at marbles makes him a marvel to his peers and accepted. James finds himself in his tutoring of Maybeth and his success at helping her read. Dicey finally realizes that she has some help in mothering the younger children, and she and her Grandma bond as they travel to Boston to deal with the impending death of Momma in the mental institution. I really liked how the book ended; Grandma finally goes to the attic and brings down the photo albums from long ago. As the children gather round her, Grandma begins to point to photographs and tell stories about each one.

This was a very good book, and I think that the ninth graders will enjoy it.

I have now removed Dicey's Song and Sunset from my list and will be adding another book today, so watch for the title.