BIBLIOGRAPHY
Frost, Helen. 2008. DIAMOND WILLOW. New York: Frances, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-31776-8
PLOT SUMMARY
Willow, a 12 year-old girl, who prefers to blend in, wants her family to see her for who she really is. In her journey to prove she is growing up, she mush’s the family dogs to her grandparents house and things take a turn for the worst. Willow loses control of her sled and Roxy, her lead dog, suffers a painful accident, which causes her to lose her eyesight. Willow's parents are left with a decision to euthanize Roxy, but Willow intervenes and mush’s her out to her grandparents house with the help of her friend, in hopes of saving her life. Along the way, ancestors in the form of wood creatures, were guiding and helping her to make things right. Her family shares the family secret of Willows’ twin sister who died soon after birth. The reincarnation of Diamond, her twin sister, is Roxy. Willow finds happiness in life through her time with her dogs and in the snow.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This novel-in-verse is written in free verse and contains an author’s note with background on Willow’s life as well as a description of the diamond-shaped poems. The irregular diamonds are much like the ones from her Diamond Willow stick which she was peeling and sanding to polish for a lamp she creates at the end of her novel, but holds more meaning as it represents the Diamond Willow branch her sister and her were named after. Every diamond -shaped poem is not the same, as the verse’s are made to fit the words of the poem by moving from line to line. The poems, which are read like a novel,contain a message within. There are bolded words that reveal Willow’s inner feelings, which fits the overall meaning of the poem. Occasionally, there is some onomatopoeia such as “Hike” but no music to the poems as it is a novel.
The author uses similes such as “Silence stalks around us like a cat,” when Willow wonders why her family doesn’t trust her and she tries to explain her love for Roxy. The ancestor’s of the main characters are personified as animals throughout the novel-in-verse. They are introduced at the beginning before each poem and give thoughts much like with human qualities and express their feelings as well in a paragraph form, then Willow’s narrative is told in the diamond-shaped poems. There are sensory words to show us how Willow feels such as when she doesn’t want to show she’s afraid of the heavy snow falling in the middle of the woods, “I taste panic rising in my throat.” The reader can also imagine the severity of the situation when Roxy is injured in the line, “ Roxy/ sticks her face/ in the snow./ The snow/ turns/ red.” Diamond Willow is filled with emotion throughout as we read Willow’s inner feelings from beginning to end. Her sense of wanting to belong is something the middle-school age group can relate to.
REVIEW/EXCERPT(S)/AWARDS
*Booklist, 06/15/08
*Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books starred, 06/01/08
*Horn Book Magazine, 07/01/08
*School Library Journal, 07/01/09
*Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) 10/01/08
*Wilson’s Junior High School, 01/09/10
Booklist (June 1, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 19): “The causal diamond shape of the poems reflects how precious jewels of wisdom can grow around painful scars.”
Horn Book Magazine (July/August, 2008): “Frost’s inclusion of animal guides who are the spirits of Willow's deceased relatives and who function as fairy-godmother figures to assist her; the blend of realism and magic-cum-religion stretches credulity just a little too far.”
School Library Journal (June 1, 2008): “Her poems offer pensive imagery and glimpses of character, and strong emotion.”
CONNECTIONS
-This novel in verse was interesting to read with its unique placement of words surrounded by the diamond shape and placed at the center, drawing the eye from top to bottom revealing the secret message. After reading the poem I’d look at the bolded words to understand Willow’s feelings in a couple of words. I also enjoyed how Roxy’s part was at the end. It tied the entire novel together and made for an emotional ending.
-Classroom connection can be to read as a class and have students assigned to the ancestor characters and students take turns reading Diamond’s narrative.
-Students can be invited to create their own poem based on a shape that has significance to an event they can relate to convey a message in their poem.
Other novels in verse by Helen Frost:
Frost, Helen. KEESHA’S HOUSE. ISBN 978-0-329-98135-8
Frost, Helen. HIDDEN. ISBN 978-1-48985-810-8
Frost, Helen. THE BRAID. 978-1-46689-633-8
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