The Braid
Author(s): Helen Frost
Two sisters, Jeannie and Sarah, tell their separate yet tightly interwoven stories in alternating narrative poems. Each sister – Jeannie, who leaves Scotland during the Highland Clearances with her father, mother, and the younger children, and Sarah, who hides so she can stay behind with her grandmother – carries a length of the other's hair braided with her own. The braid binds them together when they are worlds apart and reminds them of who they used to be before they were evicted from the Western Isles, where their family had lived for many generations.
The award-winning poet Helen Frost eloquently twists strand over strand of language, braiding the words at the edges of the poems to bring new poetic forms to life while intertwining the destinies of two young girls and the people who cross their paths in this unforgettable novel. An author's note describes the inventive poetic form in detail.
The Braid is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Review(s):
American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults (2007), Long-listed Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year (2007), Commended Lion & Unicorn Award-Exc. NA Poet Honor (2007), NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, Long-listed School Library Best Books of the Year (2006), Winner NCSS-CBC NotableTrade-Soc.Stdy, Long-listed ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2007), Long-listed Kirkus Reviews Editor's Choice (2006), Commended Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor (2007), Long-listed Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice A. ML (2008), Winner CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI) (2007), Long-listed NCTE Notable Child. Bks in Lang. A (2007), School Library Journal Best Books of the Year (2006), Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Master List (2008), Long-listed Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List
ISBN: 9780374300715