Family ties come through as the keynote of this satisfying and positive sequel to Homecoming, which sees Dicey and her three younger siblings settled on Grandmother Tillerman's Chesapeake Bay farm. With Momma in a mental hospital and local rumors that old Mrs. Tillerman is "Crazy," it's a relief to find Grain a wise and capable, if sometimes eccentric upbringer. Dicey still worries about the younger children's school problems, but she new has help in handling them: Grain visits Sammy's second grade and wins him points by beating all the boys at marbles; and James, a bright and bookish ten, studies methods and teaches slow, shy Maybeth, who's talented in music but failing in school, to read. And, as family troubles present themselves, Grain brusquely counsels Dicey on the variously appropriate policies of holding on, reaching out, and letting go. Eventually the prickly Dicey acknowledges a friend in Mina, a black girl who recognizes that she and Dicey are the two eighth-grade brains, and another in Serf, a tenth-grader with a guitar, who visits for family songfests although Dicey, not ready for dates, turns down his invitation to a dance. Fat Mr. Lingerie, Maybeth's music teacher, becomes another family friend, coming forth with sitting services and money for the undertaker when Dicey and Grain must travel to the children's dying Momma in Boston. The sadness of these final scenes is tempered with the satisfaction of a chapter closed and the knowledge that, as Momma's awkward, mouse-faced doctor says lamely, "It is better this way." Through all the hardships, comforts, and passages, Dicey remains the sturdy presence we met in Homecoming; new 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.
Pub Date: Oct. 22, 1982
ISBN: 0786263520
Page Count: 381
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1982
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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