Homecoming by cynthia voigt

I don't remember how I first came across this book, whether I checked it out from the library or bought it at a garage sale.  I think I picked it up for the older children, but read it myself, first.  However it was, it quickly became a favorite at our house.

This is the first book in a seven part series, called the Tillerman series.  We have three of them, and I want to eventually get the rest.

In this book, the Tillerman children, 13 year old Dicey, strong and stable, James, who is smart but angry, Maybeth, who rarely talks and is just a little slow and Sammy, the doted upon baby of the family, are abandoned by their increasingly mentally ill mother in a mall parking lot in Connecticut.  They wait out the night, almost getting caught as they sleep in their car.  By the next morning, Dicey realizes Momma is not coming back, and she must take care of her younger siblings.  Going back home wasn't an option, because Momma hadn't paid the rent in weeks.  They were heading for their aunt Cilla's home in Bridgeport when Momma suddenly left them.  Momma had written the address on the paper bags she had packed the children's clothes in, "in case something happened."
Afraid of being separated or put in a foster home if someone found out they had been abandoned, Dicey sets out walking with her siblings to aunt Cilla's house.   They have a small amount of money, which Dicey rations out each day for food.  They sleep in shelters at the park, on beaches, in abandoned houses and anywhere else they can find that  feels safe.
When they finally reach their aunt's house, they find out she has died, and their cousin Eunice, takes them in for a while.  They learn their mother has been found, but is in a catatonic state in a hospital.  Cousin Eunice makes plans to bring up the children  But when the children learn that the plans include putting Maybeth in an institution for mentally disabled children, Dicey gathers them up and sets off again, this time to their grandmother, who they have just learned about.

This is a believable book and hard to put down.  You will root for the children as they try to find a place to call home.  You will admire Dicey as she strives to keep her family together in spite of insurmountable odds.  You will like the people they meet along the way and the lessons the children learn from them.  You will hurt for Dicey as she meets disappoint, only to finally find home.