The characters are so well developed in this book, especially that of Dicey who is the responsible, older child in charge of her siblings. Abigail Tillerman, Dicey's maternal grandmother, is another marvel of Voight's writing. The perfect combination of hard and crusty with astute, reluctant kindness. Abigail fires up the third act and elevates the entire book. This is a heartfelt story with themes of love, abandonment, survival, friendship and family. Definitely worth the read. ( )

Long and improbable plot weaves brave group of four kids through city and country to find
a new home after their mother leaves them in a parking lot outside a mall. ( )

Dicey Tillerman, aged 12, and her younger siblings find themselves abandoned by their mother in a car in a mall parking lot. They were supposed to be traveling as a family from their home in Providence, RI, to their Mom's Aunt Cilla's home in Bridgeport, CT, when Mom announced that she needed to stop at a mall, and would be right back. Times had been tough with no father at home, but Aunt Cilla would surely help them out...that was the reason for the trip. When Mom did not return to the car after most of a day and a night, Dicey took matters into her own hands, and decided that going on to Bridgeport was the only option they had. With a map, very little money, and a lot of determination, she resolved to keep her brothers and sister together, and get them to Aunt Cilla's...on foot. Voigt is a marvelous storyteller, a masterful problem solver, and a genius at creating separate personalities for four remarkable little humans. If she didn't walk most of the children's route from Providence to Bridgeport herself, I'd be very surprised. As unlikely to succeed as her protagonists' endeavor seems (and it probably would not be possible in 2022, as it may have been in the late 1970s when the story is set), she made a believer out of me. One or two tiny quibbles with factual situations that I question the legitimacy of, but nothing that would swamp the entire enterprise. The ending was as good as it could be, without a scrap of sentimental BS (but I might have almost shed a little tear) I absolutely loved this book. ( )

I remember reading this book in elementary school, and the fascination with a bunch of kids surviving on their own in the world has followed me since then. I'm glad the book still holds up. Even though it's a completely mundane world, the challenges the Tillermans face are engrossing and compelling. I adore the consistent theme of home, defining it and finding it. It all felt very real: Dicey's efforts to always keep the Tillermans together, the very real threats to that goal, the siblings' strong relationships and contentions, the characters' individual complexities. The book reminds me of how I felt reading the Anne of Green Gables series, of falling completely into the characters and their world. Both books are written so well that they feel like coming home. ( )

Picture yourself as a teenager with three younger siblings. What would you do if your mother left all of you in a car in a mall parking lot to never came back? Dicey Tillerman faces that dilemma after she realizes her mother has been "shopping" way too long. A full night and day too long. Looking back on the events leading up to this abandonment, Dicey understands her mother had been planning this escape from her children carefully, almost deliberately. Making them memorize the address to their great-aunt's house; packing them bag lunches. The days before her departure were full of signs Dicey somehow missed or didn't want to believe. Now, armed with bag lunches and a few dollars, she must protect her little family of siblings. Shepherding them along country backroads, hiding in bushes, camping on deserted beaches, and scrimping and saving only to buy the bare necessities, Dicey navigates her way down the coast of Connecticut from Peewauket, Massachusetts to their great-aunt's house, hoping mother will be there. This is an all-too-real tale of a mother overwhelmed by life. Her children are fighters, though. Each child will warm your heart with their various personalities. ( )