Homecoming Characters

Dicey is our heroine. And what a heroine she is. She's just turned thirteen-years-old at the start of the novel, but she has a whole lot more going on than your average teenager. Pretty much as soo...

When we're introduced to James, the author tells us that he's "ten and want[s] everything to have a reason" (1.1.4). This is James in a nutshell. He's only in elementary school when his mother aban...

Of all the Tillerman siblings, nine-year-old Maybeth is probably the most helpless. She's not resourceful like Dicey, or smart like James, or a fighter like Sammy. She struggles in school because s...

At six-years-old, Sammy is the baby of the Tillerman family. And he sure acts like it sometimes. Of all the kids, Sammy is the one that gives Dicey the most trouble when they're starting out on the...

Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy find out halfway through their story that they have a grandmother they've never heard of. Weird, right? Apparently this lady lives in Crisfield, but she's nuttier t...

When the Tillermans finally get to Aunt Cilla's house, they find that the old woman has died and her only daughter, Eunice, now lives in the house. This is bad news for a couple of reasons.For star...

Liza is the children's mother. She's had a rough go of it lately, so she decides to pack the kids up and head off to see her rich Aunt Cilla. In the middle of the night. Dicey has suspected for a w...

The Tillerman kids meet up with Louis and Edie while they're staying at Rockland State Park. They first approach Dicey when she's by herself and kind of freak her out with their questions. Well, Lo...

Dicey first runs into these guys when she's weeping on a park bench in the middle of New Haven, Connecticut. Windy, who's a student at Yale University, offers her a place to sleep for the night and...

Dicey and her siblings get some help from Tom and Jerry when they're trying to figure out a way to cross the Chesapeake Bay. As it just so happens, Jerry has his dad's boat. How convenient. Over...

Will and Claire are the last two people to help the Tillermans on their way home, but they also seem to care the most. The kids meet them at Will's circus, and both Claire and Will are willing to g...

This guy is a Catholic priest who doubles as Eunice's spiritual advisor. He's not the most likeable holy man on the planet, but he does try to help in his own way. You might say he's more practical...

This man is a pretty nasty character. He's easily the worst person in the entire book since he's not just dismissive or rude to the Tillermans—instead he plots to kidnap them and goodness knows w...

For the first part of the book, rich Aunt Cilla and her "big white house that face[s] the ocean" (1.3.1) exist as a kind of dream in Dicey's mind. It isn't until the kids arrive in Bridgeport that...

This guy only shows up for a few chapters, but he makes a bad impression right away. Sergeant Gordo is supposed to be helping the Tillermans find their mother, but he spends most of his time making...