From: Steven Engelfried <stevene>
Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 20:46:59 -0700

Though I think "Dicey's Song," "The Runner," and "A Solitary Blue" are the best of the Tillerman books, "Homecoming's" the one I booktalk, for obvious reasons. Kids will go for n a lot easier than smart-girl-gets?cused-of-cheating-on-essay. What I hope, of course, is that the kids will get drawn to the plot of "Homecoming" but end up loving the characters who, as Kathy Isaacs says, are the real heart of the Tillerman books. Once you know Dicey, you realize that being falsely accused can be almost as traumatic as being abandoned. I do think there was a definite drop off in quality with the last two books, "Sons from Afar" and "Seventeen Against the Dealer." The characters seemed less real to me...I remember thinking that the lesson Dicey learned in "Dealer" felt a bit contrived. They weren't great books, I thought, but definitely worthwhile experiences. The insights I got about Sammy and James in "Sons" made me look at their characters in the other books in a different way, even though I thought the story was weak overall. Because of the multiple perspectives offered throughout the series, you almost have to read the whole thing twice to fully appreciate it. I had a similar experience with another Voigt series: "Jackaroo" was very good, and "On Fortune's Wheel" was okay. But when I read and loved "Wings of a Falcon," I re-read the other two and found new things to appreciate about the series as a whole.

Steven Engelfried, Children's Librarian Deschutes Public Library 601 NW Wall Street Bend, OR 97701 ph: 541a7p72 fax: 541a7p73 e-mail: stevene at dpls.lib.or.us
Received on Mon 17 May 1999 10:46:59 PM CDT