Name: Sons from Afar
ISBN: 9781442489189

Cynthia Voigt

Will a common cause unite two brothers—or drive them further apart? Find out in the sixth installment of Cynthia Voigt’s Tillerman cycle. If James and Sammy Tillerman agree on anything, it’s that they have nothing in common. Sammy is a tough jock, while James is an intellectual who has begun to question his identity. Then James enlists his brother’s help to find Francis Verricker, who may be the father who deserted them long ago. Through this quest, the brothers learn more about themselves than they thought possible. Cynthia Voigt writes realistically of human failure—and triumph—in this poignant novel from her acclaimed Tillerman cycle.

Sons from Afar

Six years after coming to live with their grandmother, James and Sammy Tillerman go in search of their long-lost father.

Sons From Afar

Mahasin S Ameen

I really, really like Voigt's writing style. She has a way of capturing the complicated emotions of each character. This book focuses on James and Sammy. Last year I read Homecoming and Dicey's Song and just thought they were okay, but this book was different. 

I still am not a big fan of James as a character. He's significantly less annoying in this book than he was in the other two, but that's not saying much. I know that it's a clear indication that James is emotionally stunted and insecure about himself physically, he really needed a lot more personal growth than I think we see in Sons from Afar. Sammy on the other hand, was a whiny six-seven year old who said "good-o" way to much, but he's not like that anymore. I think emotionally Sammy is facing a lot of the same problems James is, but makes up for it with physical strength and a tough guy bravado. Sammy's weakness is on his sleeve though, when James brings up the idea of their father, a man who abandoned their mother before Sammy was even born, Sammy gets angry. You see a full range of emotions from Sammy, anger at being abandoned, the desire for love and acceptance through is friend Robin's family, the shame of having people ask about his parents. 

I wasn't planning on reading another Tillerman book but I want the closure I think reading Seventeen Against the Dealer will bring. Plus the book is only 233 pages, I should be able to knock that out in a few quiet hours.

Sons from Afar

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