From: Eliza T. Dresang <edresang>
Date: Sat, 15 May 1999 13:00:47 -0400

Hello All,

I can't resist talking about the Tillerman saga since it is near and dear to my heart. To confess "up front," I was on the Newbery Committee that chose *Dicey's Song.* At that time Voigt was a virtual unknown.
*Homecoming* had been well received but had not been around long enough to create a solid "reputation." Not only that, but when one looks at the honor books from that year, which were written by Hamilton, Fritz, Fleischman, Steig, one sees that this book truly emerged from among many excellent possibilities.

I'd like to share something that preceded my Newbery Committee's decision, some things that followed it, and how I see Voigt's work now that it has turned into a saga.

THE BEFORE:

I had a group of young readers who meet several times with me during my
*Newbery year*. They were in 7th grade, 11 and 12 at the time. They had started discussing books with their 5th grade teacher and had kept up the
"book club" at night with her through 6th and 7th. They specifically focused each year on discussion of "eligibles" they and their teacher picked for the Newbery.

I can tell you unequivocally that the insights of these young readers profoundly affected my evaluation of *Dicey's Song.* The imagery in
*Dicey's Song* is symbolic and rich (for example, starting with the Tiller
- in Tillerman, the significance of ideas surrounding a boat and sailing and water that carries through to the last book *Seventeen Against the Dealer*). These experienced young readers pointed it out to me as something they really enjoyed. They, in fact, were the ones who gave me answers to some of the questions I had. Young readers are so open to ideas! (Of course I had too "adult reader" groups, too, experienced in evaluation also, so I wove my own analysis with all these others). Anyway, my appreciation for this book is not/was not devoid of young readers own opinions (not in just like/dislike but as a story worth the reading) .

But that was 1982 and this is 1999. How do young readers react now? Do they still find richness and depth and interest in *Dicey*? (Voigt has gone on to write far more sophisticated and deep novels, although often for an older audience. Does this one still stand up? )

THE AFTER:

After the experience, I wanted to share the collective insights to which I had been privy, so I wrote an article called *A Newbery Song for Gifted Readers* that appear in SLJ (November 1983). My point was/is that *Dicey* is a book that can appeal to readers with many different kinds of reading experiences. It is a good story no matter what. But for those who by some measure or the other might be considered *gifted readers* there is a richness to the text to meet their needs, too (in imagery, character, many of the things Megan mentioned). These treasures just don't get in the way of the story.

Some of what I read in *Dicey's Song* has an a lasting impact on shaping my professional and/or personal life. The anecdote told (in Chapter 7) of Mr. Chappelle the English teacher accusing Dicey of plagarism after having read aloud her proud "speaking for herself" essay about her toubled mother prompted me to try to "look below the surface" at student work that catches me by surprise, to try never to "prejudge" like Mr. Chappelle. For the four years I taught YA lit to English Education majors, I always read them that story (and a similar one from Anastasia Krupnik)

THE FAR AFTER (NOW):

Last fall there was a discussion of multiple perspectives on CCBC-net. At that time reference was made to multiple voices in one book, largely. In my recently published book *Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age* I have a chapter called multiple perspectives. I speak of many voices in one book (as we did on this list). I also talk of multiples perspectives in many books. Although I didn't think of it at the time OR when I was writing
*Radical Change*, taken as a whole, these books are not a "typical saga." They provide the type of "multiple perspectives" that I address with Radical Change. Many ways to look at the life of a family -- not simply a linear recounting of generations.

In fact, the last 53 pages of *A Solitary Blue* retell the exact story told in *Dicey's Song,* rewinding to the same period of time and going over it from Jeff's rather than Dicey's perspective. *The Runner* gives us an entirely different perspective of Gram from that we see through the eye's of her grandchildren. *Sons From Afar* give us another view of the James and Sammy that differs somewhat from Dicey's own view. The stories do not fit together in a linear pattern but as a mosaic with some overlapping "see through parts." I don't have any other examples at hand at the moment, but maybe others of you do (of the enriched perspectives through the various points of view)?

Finally (signaling another characteristic of *Radical Change* -- that stories do not always resolve in a wished-for-by-the-reader happy manner), the ending of *Seventeen Against the Dealer* somewhat ties back (or I think it does) to the very first lines of *Dicey's Song* "And They Lived Happily Ever After. Not the Tillermans, Dicey thought. That wasn't the way things went for the Tillermans." (p3). The ending of the saga isn't "happily ever after," or is it?

To me, Voigt is a remarkable author. I've often wondered how young readers accept her books -- and whether once they are hooked on the Tillermans they make their way through (even though the reading gets tougher as it goes). I'll be anxious to hear some other perspectives!

Eliza Dresang, School of Information Studies, FSU Author: Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age http://slis-one.lis.fsu.edu/radicalchange
Received on Sat 15 May 1999 12:00:47 PM CDT