Diamond Willow

Bibliography

Frost, Helen. Diamond Willow. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0-374-31776-8

Plot Summary

The story takes place in Alaska.  Willow is a 12 year old girl who is in between.  She is the middle child in the family, she isn’t a little girl anymore, but she’s not grown up either.  She loves to help her dad care for the sled dogs and wants more than anything to be allowed to take them on the snowy path to her grandparents house alone.  When one of the dogs is hurt she sets out on an adventure, family secrets are revealed, and she also makes some discoveries about herself.


Critical Analysis

In the author’s note Frost explains that a diamond willow is a piece of willow wood that had been scarred by an injured branch that has fallen away.  “the scars, and the diamonds that form around them, give the diamond willow it’s beauty, and gave me the idea for this story”  

Diamond Willow is a novel beautifully written in verse.  Each verse is constructed in the shape of a diamond and each diamond shape has a second verse located inside it highlighted in darker ink.  I found this very clever and soon I was reading the hidden verse first as a clue to the meaning of each new verse.  While each page contains its own poem they all flow together seamlessly to tell the story.   This is the first time I have read a novel in verse and was very surprised with how much I enjoyed it.   


Awards and Excerpts

Cybil Award, 2008 Finalist Middle Grade Novels United States

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, 2009 Winner United States

Mitten Award, 2008 Winner Michigan United States

Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, 2009 ; Nominee; Grades 4-6; Maryland

Blue Hen Book Award, 2010 ; Nominee; Chapter Books; Delaware

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, 2009-2010 ; Master List; Vermont

Georgia Children's Book Award, 2010-2011 ; Nominee; Grades 4-8; Georgia

Iowa Children's Choice Award, 2010-2011 ; Nominee; Iowa

Keystone to Reading Book Award, 2009-2010 ; Nominee; Intermediate; Pennsylvania

Lone Star Reading List, 2009 ; Texas

North Carolina Children's Book Award, 2010 ; Nominee; Junior Book; North Carolina

School Library Journal review excerpt “Helen Frost's book is a true work of art, using lyrical diamond-shaped poems to tell the story of 12-year-old Willow.”

Booklist review excerpt “this story in easy-to-read verse blends exciting survival adventure with a contemporary girl's discovery of family roots and secrets.”


Connections

Other books with similar themes you might enjoy:
Great Bear Lake by Erin Hunter (2009)
The Ruby Key by Holly Lisle (2008)

Other books by Helen Frost:
Keesha’s House (2003)
Spinning Through the Universe (2004)
The Braid (2006)
Monarch and Milkweed (2008)
Crossing Stones (2009)
Hidden  (2011)
Step Gently Out  (2012)