Biblioagraphy: Frost, Helen. DIAMOND WILLOW. New York: Frances Foster Books. 2008. Print

 

ISBN: 9780374317768

 

Use your sharpest knife to skin off the gray bark of a willow tree and there where the scar of a living branch remains you will “reveal reddish-brown diamonds, each with a small dark center.”  A polished diamond willow branch is extraordinary, but 12 year-old Willow, named after this exceptional natural phenomenon doesn’t feel exceptional at all… “I'm skinny and ordinary like a stick.”  In this coming of age verse novel Willow is struggling to exert her independence and she questions her own value and strength.  She would love nothing more than to guide her dogsled to her grandparent’s house to prove to everyone once in for all that she is growing up.  Willow finally convinces her parents to allow her to mush the dogsled to her grandparents' house alone for the first time, but while on her return trip Willow’s youthful carelessness crashes with Alaska’s unforgiving environment.  Willow’s dogsled runs right into a broken tree injuring her and her best dog Roxy.  This accident leads Willow on a journey of self-discovery from which she learns how extraordinary she really is.

The poetry inside a verse novel magnifies tenfold the emotion of the protagonist.  “The best verse novels are built on poems that are often lovely stand-alone works of poetry.” (Vardell, p.116)  Helen Frost masterfully executes this style of writing.  The poems within the pages of Diamond Willow just shook you.  This story is told in a series of free verse diamond-shape poems; depending on the layout and design of the diamond’s shape, and the demeanor of the poem factors whether short lines or long couplets are used.  More importantly, the larger diamond shape poems are anchored by a powerful shorter bold print free verse poem which is created out of the words from the larger poem.  Because the shorter poems are in bold print they immediately catch your attention, and in just a few very concise words you know exactly how the protagonist is feeling… “people scare me”… “why don’t people like me.”  Frost cleverly peppers the novel with narratives from the point of view of Willow’s ancestors which gives the reads insight about the various characters in the book and helps to advance the story.  Although, this is an effective way of advancing the story the voices of the ancestors appear monotone when compared to Willow’s powerful voice (“find me” vs. “I remember being thirteen and in love”).   The language and poignant words chosen for the short bold print poems in this quiet little book will reach students of all ages because it is about a universal topic, growing up.  It’s about the small battles that we must wage against our parents so that we can eventually gain our independence from them.  

The author’s note at the beginning of the book explains the setting and inspiration for the story.  The author’s note also gives personal information about Helen Frost and a brief explanation about diamond willow trees which explains the layout of the text. When a branch is injured and falls away it leaves a scar which looks like a diamond. The diamond shape scars on a willow branch come in different sizes and an assortment of diamond shapes just like the poems in the book.  Although, this novel does not have a table of content nor is it written in clearly defined chapters; the narratives written in the ancestor’s voice act like a chapter marker which allows the story to transition from one scene to another.   

A good novel draws you in and takes you on a journey; a great novel makes you laugh out loud or it can make you cry, but a verse novel simply leave you stunned!  Without the poems Diamond Willow would simply be another good journey.

Activity:

Writing: After a class discussion about Diamond Willow have the students create a circle diagram about emotions.  Then have the students pick an emotion from their diagram and write a poem that expresses that emotion.  Finally, as a challenge ask students to write a shape poem using a shape of their choosing. 

Writing: Students can write a personal narrative about their relationship to their own pets. 

 

Recommended Books by Helen Frost:

• Keesha’s House
• Spinning Through the Universe
• The Braid

 

Reviews:

Helen Frost's book is a true work of art, using lyrical diamond-shaped poems to tell the story of 12-year-old Willow, part Athabascan Indian, who wants to prove herself by running the family's sled dogs alone in the Alaskan wilderness.  Within each poem, Frost has cleverly hidden a second poem, with words in boldface type, that underscores the salient point of Willow's thoughts. (Excerpt from School Library Journal, 2009)

 

Diamond Willow, a young Alaskan of Athabascan and European descent, doesn't have many friends; she's happiest when she's sledding her father's dogs and visiting her grandparents. Frost presents her story in a series of poems in Willow's voice, using a form inspired by the marks on a diamond willow stick; roughly diamond-shaped and no two exactly alike, each contains a "hidden message" printed in boldface that spans several lines and encapsulates the poem. It's a novel idea, and largely works quite well.  (Excerpt from Kirkus Reviews, 2008)
References:

Vardell, Sylvia M. Children’s Literature in Action: A Librarian’s Guide. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. Print