DIAMOND WILLOW (ages 8 and up; ideal for middle school)
Farrar, Straus & Giroux / Frances Foster Books
Set in interior Alaska, Diamond Willow tells the story of 12-year-old Willow, a dogmusher, and her lead dog, Roxy. The story is told in diamond-shaped poems in Willow's voice, with prose sections in the voices of animal characters.
The beautiful cover illustration is by Max Grafe.
Honors and Awards for Diamond Willow
2009 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award/
2008 Mitten Award--Michigan Library Association/
The Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry: 2009 Honor Book/
2009 Winner of Best Books of Indiana, Children and Young Adult Book/
Indie Next Kids' List Great Read
Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Finalist
Bank Street List of Best Children's Books
Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens
State Reading Lists
2009 Texas Lone Star Reading List/
2010-2011 William Allen White Children's Book Awards Master List, grades 6-8 (Kansas)
2009-2010 Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award Master List
2009-2010 Keystone to Reading Book Award Master LIst (Pennsylvania)
Nominated for Iowa Children's Choice Awards
Nominated for Blue Hen Book Award (Delaware)
2010 North Carolina Children’s Book Award Master List
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Award Nominee (Illinois)
2011 Hawaii Nene Award Master List
2010 Black-Eyed Susan nominee (Maryland)
2011 Oregon Battle of the Books Selection
Each year the judges of the "Lion and the Unicorn Award" write a thoughtful essay about the state of children's poetry, as evidenced by their careful reading of that year's books. I'd like to share excerpts of the essay in which the 2009 judges discuss Diamond Willow.
". . . Diamond Willow, a part-Athabascan girl, dog-sleds alone through the Alaskan interior to visit her grandparents. Her adventures are told via. . .diamond poems, interspersed with brief prose monologues spoken by animals—some of whom, like “Spruce Hen” and “Red Fox”—are reincarnations of the girl’s Athabascan ancestors. The chorus of voices animates the wilderness and generates an atmosphere; this is not so much magical as uncannily historical, advancing a sense of “the self” as both individually-forged (via the mushing adventure) and collectively- maintained (via language and stories).
One danger arises in Frost’s trying to pull off almost an entire book with the same structural conceit. But she uses just enough variety, in terms of the actual diamond shape and the interspersed prose sections, to keep us intrigued. The shape, of course, has significance in terms of Willow’s character and growth, but it also functions beyond such plot-related and thematic reasons; Frost, without being a slave to it, uses the diamond to shape the flow of the poem, beginning with a shorter concept, expanding, and then coming back to a pointed, and often more lyrical end, as in the verse marking Willow’s leaving on her first dog sled trip alone, when she imagines her parents watching her slide away:
And I can picture Mom,
standing beside Dad,
her arms folded tight,
like she’s holding
me, wrapped
up inside
them.
(15)
Like the tiny inclusions that make each diamond unique, the hidden “poems” within poems, in bold typeface, provide an exploration and complication of voice. Each one is not just a “secret message”—it is an eerie telescoping into the heart of the narrative voice, or even better, an implication of onion-like layers. If we zoom in further, do we find another “poem” within the poem within the poem? Just as the animals represent the different layers of generations, from the present to Willow’s great-great-great grandmother, so the diamond form implies narrative within narrative, going back indefinitely."
From the essay: "Lively Rigor: The 2009 Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry"
by Michael Heyman, Angela Sorby, and Joseph T. Thomas, Jr., published in The Lion and the Unicorn, Volume 33, No. 3, September, 2009
Perceptive readers who have read The Braid, might catch a glimpse of Jeannie on the cover and in the pages of Diamond Willow. She appears as a spruce hen named Jean who tells part of the story. If you are a child who has enjoyed Diamond Willow, you'll probably enjoy The Braid when you are a few years older. When you meet Jeannie there, you might find yourself wondering, "Do I know you?"
The spruce hen and the other animals are a protective presence in the story, and are especially helpful when the characters are attentive to their surroundings. I thank them for helping me tell the story.
Diamond Willow is set in the fictional town of Old Fork, Alaska. As I was imagining Old Fork, I remembered the three years I lived in Telida, Alaska, and the people who became like family to me.
Here is a website about the history of Telida, with beautiful old photographs. (Sorry, this link is down--if anyone knows where this photo-history can now be found, please email me and let me know! helenfrost@info.net )
I have received many delightful letters from children about Diamond Willow, and regret that I'm not able to share them all, but here is a wonderful note from 3rd grade teacher, Jeanette Feifarek:
"My kids absolutely adored your book, Diamond Willow. It was the impetus that helped one of my students, Ben, learn to read better and with a passion. Always a reluctant reader, he could not wait to read aloud your words in class. His unsure reading voice suddenly took a whole new dimension...filled with emotion, spirit and excitement. We actually cheered as Benny read your words."
Excerpts from reviews:
"Frost invents an ingenious poetic form for her story that is both stable and fluid; like the diamond willow branches that she is imitating, the diamond shapes of her poems vary. . . . Frost has spun metaphoric gold out of an evocative natural landscape, and she knows just how to craft it into an elegant and moving story of a young girl's deepening understanding of the relationships she shares with those around her." —Bulletin for Center of Children's Books (starred)
"This complex and elegant novel will resonate with readers who savor powerful drama and multifaceted characters." —School Library Journal
“Set in a remote part of Alaska, this story in easy-to-read verse blends exciting survival adventure with a contemporary girl’s discovery of family roots and secrets.” —Booklist
If you're interested in following the conversation about Diamond Willow here are a few of the many places online where it has been thoughtfully reviewed:
Richie's Picks (Richie Partington)
The Goddess of YA Literature (Teri Lesesne)
School Library Journal--Fuse #8 (Elizabeth Bird)
A poem from the book:
I
was
named
after a stick.
The way Mom tells it,
she couldn’t get Dad to agree
on any names: Ellen, after Grandma?
Sally after Dad’s great aunt in Michigan?
No, he wanted something modern, something
meaningful. It will come to us, Dad kept saying.
Let’s hope it comes before the baby learns to walk,
said Mom. Always does, said Dad. That’s how they
argue, each knows what they want, but neither seems
to think it matters much who wins. Since Mom gives
in before Dad most of the time, Dad gets his way a lot.
He told me that just before I was born, he found a small
stand of diamond willow and brought home one stick.
That’s it! Let’s name our baby Diamond Willow!
Mom had to think about it for a few days.
I can see it now: They’re on the airplane
flying to Anchorage. Mom’s in labor,
she’ll agree to almost anything.
Okay, she says. So Dad puts
Diamond Willow on my
birth certificate, and
then Mom says,
We will call
the baby
Willow.
