Frost, Helen. 2008. Diamond willow. New York: Frances Foster Books. ISBN 9780374317768.
I have seen this book everywhere lately, and I was curious. I requested it from the public library and when I got it, I sat down and literally read it in one sitting. It was amazing! All morning long, I have been discussing it with anyone that I can get to stand still long enough, teachers and students. I was so impressed by the story, and its creative free verse style. I am not sure what I was expecting, but I experienced a very sweet surprise!
Even though this book is about a 12 year-old girl, I still have plans to put a copy in the high school library. This is so good, that I don't want anyone to miss out on it. Willow is Athabascan Native American, with a loving, and happy family, but she suffers a little from middle child syndrome, and facing those scary upcoming and difficult teenage years. She is an accomplished dog musher and this story is about a trip to her grandparents using the dogs and sled as transportation.
There is an author's note at the beginning to help set the story for the reader, and then each poem is written in a diamond shape. There is a reason for this that the reader soon discovers, and also hidden within each diamond is a secret message, printed in bold. It feels like you are reading the story poetry, but also getting secret additional insight into the characters. Every once in a while, the poetry stops for a moment, and there is a prose insert, from one of her ancesters, who is watching over her, in a surprising way.
I truly enjoyed reading the story of Willow and watching her mature from a shy and introverted person, to a young lady who was starting to understand who she was, and to be proud and satisfied with it.
This novel is written in a free verse and concrete poetry style, and it really works here. I truly loved this book and I can't wait to have my students read it so that I can discuss it further.
One of my favorite poems was:
What
I love
about dogs:
They don't talk
behind your back.
If they're mad at you,
they bark a couple times
and get it over with. It's true
they slobber on you sometimes.
(I'm glad people don't do that.) They
jump out and scare you in the dark. (I know,
I should say me, not "you"--some people aren't
afraid of anything.) but dogs don't make fun
of you. They don't hit you in the back
of your neck with an ice-covered
snowball, and if they did, and
it made you cry, all their
friends wouldn't stand
there laughing
at you.
(Me.)
I like this poem because it lets you see a little into Willow's soul, and the comparison that she draws between her loving dog companions, and the trouble that she has with her human school classmates. Did you also see the hidden message? PEOPLE SCARE ME. Again, Helen Frost gives us even more information about the Willow. This is such a cool thing to do!
This would be a great book to use along with a unit about Alaska. I would read as much of this book as possible aloud to students, but also allow the students to have access to the poetry novel so that they can see the creative concrete design. The book gives some insight into the Native American culture, along with the dog sled used as transportation. There are many animals in this story, and students may find it interesting to do further research on the computer and in the library about Alaska and the Native cultures there.
I really think that kids of all ages will very much enjoy this wonderful free verse book of poetry.
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