Week 4: Homecoming

Currently, I am on page 386 of my novel, Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt. I finally got to the point now where Dicey entered her grandma’s farm and met her for the first time. She went alone, thinking that it would be best for her to see her grandma first so the others wouldn’t be disappointed if things didn’t go well with her. After meeting her, Dicey realized that she was fairly sane. As a bonus, she also had a large farm that the kids could roam around on that was even close to the water. After a bit of confusion on account of where all the kids were, they all came together and, courtesy of their grandma, stayed a night at the farm. They decided that if they kept busy and helped out without being asked, they could hopefully go on living there even though their grandma said they couldn’t stay. Eventually, this plan ran out, but the kids did find out that their grandma wanted them, but she couldn’t take care of them. So, they are now forced to move on and find another place to call home.

Lately, I have noticed that Dicey and the kids are even closer than before. They always cared for each other, but I feel now that they would go even to the extent of going against their deranged grandmother to protect the well beings of their siblings. This greatly reminded me of my brothers and myself. One will go out of his way to make sure I am okay if anyone is taking to me in any way he didn’t think was correct. The other, even though he wouldn’t like to admit it to his friends, makes sure any boy I talk to treats me right, as if I couldn’t handle it myself. As I believe Sammy does with Dicey in the book as well, I greatly appreciate my siblings and am hardly ever embarrassed by them.

In another situation, I notice how even though their grandma cares about them and wants them, she can’t seem to find a way to keep them at her house. However, she is trying to drag out their stay as long as possible. It is in a way ironic because everyone thinks she is a crazy bat of a woman, but in actuality, she has an odd way of showing that she actually does care. I actually have to question if maybe she has a underlying reason for not trying her fullest extent to gain control of the kids like she says she wants to. Why does she give excuses to them that really don’t seem too legitimate to result in them moving on? I still have 16 pages left, so I hope my questions will be answered.