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A review by finesilkflower
Come a Stranger by Cynthia Voigt
3.0
I wanted to love this book, because I loved the first two volumes of the Tillerman saga; and Mina, the main character of this installment, was my favorite character from "Dicey's Song." When I saw that book three of the series was not from Dicey's POV, instead of reading it, I immediately looked to see if there was one about Mina and lo, there was!, so I read this one right away, skipping over books 3-4. I think this was fine - I wasn't lost - but I would definitely read "Dicey's Song" before this one.
The book discusses race in a way that is surprisingly nuanced for a 90's YA novel written by a white person. While I sometimes felt that Voigt wasn't the right person to be exploring these issues (a POC author would have been better), in the context of a series with multiple POV's, it's better, I think, to do your best with a POC perspective than have all the protagonists be white. Voigt does a good job of making Mina's blackness important, but not the only thing that defines her, and of empathizing with the stressful position of being a token minority. She also begins to approach the idea that white people decided what is 'high culture', what's important to learn in school, what to put on standardized tests, and so on, although I would have liked this thread followed a bit more - she doesn't, for example, get all the way to colonialism.
On a moment-to-moment / page-to-page level, I really enjoyed this book and didn't want it to end. I love Mina as a character, and Voigt's prose is always gorgeous, simple and straightforward but emotionally dense. The problem is with the larger structure of the story. I was waiting/expecting Voigt to draw the different parts of the story together, but it never really happened. It's a meandering narrative that takes Mina all the way from fifth grade, through the events of "Dicey's Song" in eighth (and beyond, in an unnecessary epilogue). It lacks the unity of time of "Homecoming" or "Dicey's Song," and loses by it.
Although I was looking forward to getting to Dicey because I love Dicey and Mina's relationship, I unfortunately felt that the book took a dip in quality when we got to the events of "Dicey's Song." The one thing you don't want to do, from a racial sensitivity perspective, is write a book from the POV of a POC character but just make it be all about white characters, and tbh that is sort of what happens once Dicey is introduced? Mina sort of becomes a vessel through which to observe Dicey, which is absolutely not cool at all.
Another problem is that pivotal scenes from "Dicey's Song" are just sort of summarized, I think in an effort to keep from being repetitive. But I think this should not have been a worry! Most people reading the series in order would have had two books in between, and even I, who read "Dicey's Song" immediately before this, still would have preferred to see the relevant scenes play out in detail. Most disappointing was not getting the triumphant feeling of watching Mina completely Perry Mason a whole English class to defend Dicey from accusations of plagiarism. From her POV this could have been even better, but it's sort of glossed over in a way that it wouldn't be if "Dicey's Song" didn't exist. I think the goal for an "alternate POV" book like this should be that it stands completely on its own and is satisfying even if, for some reason, you've never read the original it's remixing.
The biggest disappointment was the final chapter, a totally unnecessarily epilogue in which Mina exists only to witness the introduction of new character Dexter. It just is such a terrible idea to introduce a new character in an epilogue. It's extremely unsatisfying and also does a disservice to Mina to again be a vessel to observe someone else (at least it's another black character this time). Mina is amazing and bombastic and should not be relegated to the sidelines in her own book!
Punchup
There is plenty of good material here, but it is really two (or more) books:
1. Mina's summers at ballet camp could have been an entire book. She was supposed to have three; in the book, she only ends up going twice, but I think it would have been better, especially if expanding this part of the book to the length of an entire middle-grades novel, to keep the third summer, making each of the three hit different emotional notes. e.g. first summer: happily oblivious to racial weirdness, just glad to be there; second summer: realizes she's a token minority and subtly treated differently, feels resentful/isolated; third summer: she starts MAKING TROUBLE. I think that an arc like this would have been more satisfying and more explanatory of who Mina is and why, and giving this storyline more breathing room would have created more opportunity to make explicit some of the lessons about race, culture, and identity that are implied. While one of Voigt's strengths is hinting at emotional lessons without knocking you over the head, I think when it comes to race - especially for white readers who may not have had to consider these topics much - it's better to make the message very clear.
2. The book that is essentially "Dicey's Song" from Mina's perspective. Considering this as a distinct narrative would probably also have improved it, because as it is, I feel like it's unclear what we're supposed to get from seeing the same scenes from Dicey's book but from Mina's perspective. The coolest part is learning the backstory with Tamer Shipp that draws various threads together and informed Mina's persistence in trying to befriend Dicey despite her prickliness (something that needed explaining from "Dicey's Song"). But, that explanation cannot be the entire point of taking us through all the beats of Dicey and Mina's relationship again. I would have liked to see other things going on at the same time (so that Dicey wasn't the only important thing in Mina's life at this time, just as Mina isn't the only important thing in Dicey's life in her book), and I also would have liked more of an exploration of who Dicey is to Mina, and why the relationship becomes meaningful in its own right, beyond her original intention of introducing her to Tamer Shipp.
Queer Readings
There is no overt queer content in this book. It is my private headcanon that Mina is bisexual and that Mina and Dicey are in love. (So I guess one of the reasons I lose interest toward the end is that love interests for both of them are introduced.) Mina does spend a lot of time admiring women's beauty in this book. The book TELLS you that she has a crush on Tamer, but it SHOWS you how gorgeous she thinks Tamer's wife Alice is.
The book discusses race in a way that is surprisingly nuanced for a 90's YA novel written by a white person. While I sometimes felt that Voigt wasn't the right person to be exploring these issues (a POC author would have been better), in the context of a series with multiple POV's, it's better, I think, to do your best with a POC perspective than have all the protagonists be white. Voigt does a good job of making Mina's blackness important, but not the only thing that defines her, and of empathizing with the stressful position of being a token minority. She also begins to approach the idea that white people decided what is 'high culture', what's important to learn in school, what to put on standardized tests, and so on, although I would have liked this thread followed a bit more - she doesn't, for example, get all the way to colonialism.
On a moment-to-moment / page-to-page level, I really enjoyed this book and didn't want it to end. I love Mina as a character, and Voigt's prose is always gorgeous, simple and straightforward but emotionally dense. The problem is with the larger structure of the story. I was waiting/expecting Voigt to draw the different parts of the story together, but it never really happened. It's a meandering narrative that takes Mina all the way from fifth grade, through the events of "Dicey's Song" in eighth (and beyond, in an unnecessary epilogue). It lacks the unity of time of "Homecoming" or "Dicey's Song," and loses by it.
Although I was looking forward to getting to Dicey because I love Dicey and Mina's relationship, I unfortunately felt that the book took a dip in quality when we got to the events of "Dicey's Song." The one thing you don't want to do, from a racial sensitivity perspective, is write a book from the POV of a POC character but just make it be all about white characters, and tbh that is sort of what happens once Dicey is introduced? Mina sort of becomes a vessel through which to observe Dicey, which is absolutely not cool at all.
Another problem is that pivotal scenes from "Dicey's Song" are just sort of summarized, I think in an effort to keep from being repetitive. But I think this should not have been a worry! Most people reading the series in order would have had two books in between, and even I, who read "Dicey's Song" immediately before this, still would have preferred to see the relevant scenes play out in detail. Most disappointing was not getting the triumphant feeling of watching Mina completely Perry Mason a whole English class to defend Dicey from accusations of plagiarism. From her POV this could have been even better, but it's sort of glossed over in a way that it wouldn't be if "Dicey's Song" didn't exist. I think the goal for an "alternate POV" book like this should be that it stands completely on its own and is satisfying even if, for some reason, you've never read the original it's remixing.
The biggest disappointment was the final chapter, a totally unnecessarily epilogue in which Mina exists only to witness the introduction of new character Dexter. It just is such a terrible idea to introduce a new character in an epilogue. It's extremely unsatisfying and also does a disservice to Mina to again be a vessel to observe someone else (at least it's another black character this time). Mina is amazing and bombastic and should not be relegated to the sidelines in her own book!
Punchup
There is plenty of good material here, but it is really two (or more) books:
1. Mina's summers at ballet camp could have been an entire book. She was supposed to have three; in the book, she only ends up going twice, but I think it would have been better, especially if expanding this part of the book to the length of an entire middle-grades novel, to keep the third summer, making each of the three hit different emotional notes. e.g. first summer: happily oblivious to racial weirdness, just glad to be there; second summer: realizes she's a token minority and subtly treated differently, feels resentful/isolated; third summer: she starts MAKING TROUBLE. I think that an arc like this would have been more satisfying and more explanatory of who Mina is and why, and giving this storyline more breathing room would have created more opportunity to make explicit some of the lessons about race, culture, and identity that are implied. While one of Voigt's strengths is hinting at emotional lessons without knocking you over the head, I think when it comes to race - especially for white readers who may not have had to consider these topics much - it's better to make the message very clear.
2. The book that is essentially "Dicey's Song" from Mina's perspective. Considering this as a distinct narrative would probably also have improved it, because as it is, I feel like it's unclear what we're supposed to get from seeing the same scenes from Dicey's book but from Mina's perspective. The coolest part is learning the backstory with Tamer Shipp that draws various threads together and informed Mina's persistence in trying to befriend Dicey despite her prickliness (something that needed explaining from "Dicey's Song"). But, that explanation cannot be the entire point of taking us through all the beats of Dicey and Mina's relationship again. I would have liked to see other things going on at the same time (so that Dicey wasn't the only important thing in Mina's life at this time, just as Mina isn't the only important thing in Dicey's life in her book), and I also would have liked more of an exploration of who Dicey is to Mina, and why the relationship becomes meaningful in its own right, beyond her original intention of introducing her to Tamer Shipp.
Queer Readings
There is no overt queer content in this book. It is my private headcanon that Mina is bisexual and that Mina and Dicey are in love. (So I guess one of the reasons I lose interest toward the end is that love interests for both of them are introduced.) Mina does spend a lot of time admiring women's beauty in this book. The book TELLS you that she has a crush on Tamer, but it SHOWS you how gorgeous she thinks Tamer's wife Alice is.