Homecoming is a young adult novel set in 1970 by Cynthia Voigt. Dicey Tillerman is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her mother and three siblings in Massachusetts. Their mother is a single parent who works hard to make ends meet. Their father abandoned them when Sammy, the youngest sibling, was about to be born. The mother, unable to support their family emotionally and financially, makes a selfish decision to abandon them. Dicey and her siblings go on a trip with her mother to their Aunt Cilla, who lives in Bridgeport.
Their mother leaves the kids near the shopping mall and never comes back. Dicey soon realizes that the mother will not be coming and decides to go to Aunt Cilla with her siblings. Having only seven dollars to spend, Dicey plans to reach Bridgeport by walking. The seven dollars go by quickly; The Tillerman siblings end up sleeping hungrily for most nights. Dicey stops at a park where she and her siblings try to catch some fish to eat. Her youngest brother Sammy tries to steal food from people at the park, but Dicey stops Sammy from stealing and tries to reinforce morals.
They start working at a nearby shopping mall to save enough money to make it to Bridgeport. Fortunately, the Tillerman siblings meet two college students, Stewart and Windy. They give food to the kids and also drive them to Bridgeport. The Tillerman siblings’ struggle goes in vain when they find out that their Aunt Cilla is dead and their mother is also not there. Aunt Cilla’s daughter Eunice doesn’t welcome them. She wants to become a nun and is reluctant to take responsibility for the kids. Dicey’s mother is found in a bad state and admitted to a mental institution.
Father Joseph encourages Eunice to take in the kids after knowing the condition of their sick mother. But Eunice doesn’t like troublemaker Sammy and refuses to take him in. Dicey doesn’t want to part with her siblings and remembers that they have a grandmother who lives in Maryland. After saving enough money, Dicey takes her siblings and sets off for Crisfield to find their granny, Abigail Tillerman. The four kids get help from a few kind people during their journey. Meanwhile, Dicey decides to earn a few dollars to support them until they reach Crisfield.
Dicey learns that picking crops can make some money, and a landowner, Mr. Rudyard, hires them. But the landowner has an ulterior motive, and he tries to be near Maybeth, Dicey’s Sister. The Tillerman siblings run away from the field after knowing the landowner’s motive. Fortunately, the two kind people Will, and Claire, from a nearby circus, protect the kids from the landowner. They drive them to Crisfield. After getting help from Will and Claire, Dicey and her siblings reach Crisfield safely. Abigail Tillerman already knows about the Tillerman siblings from the letter of Eunice. She also refuses to take in the kids but lets the kids stay for one night in her home. Even after Abigail’s cold treatment, Dicey and her siblings work hard to win their grandmother’s heart. Meanwhile, the Tillerman siblings are enrolled in a school and manage to stay at their grandmother’s house. Soon, Dicey realizes that the grandmother will not keep them and sends them to Eunice. Eventually, Abigail overcomes her fear of losing her kids once again and asks the kids to get ready to go home with her.
