LS 5623 Advanced Literature for Young Adults

Frost, Helen. 2006. THE BRAID. New York: Frances Foster Books. ISBN 0374309620

Review:

The Braid tells the tale of a family separated when they are forced to leave their home by their landlords. The mother, father, and some of the children leave Ireland for Canada. One daughter, the eldest, stays behind with her grandmother. The father and two of the children die on the voyage, leaving the mother, second oldest daughter, and a baby boy to fend for themselves once they reach the new world. The story follows the two sisters as they struggle to make their way in the world without the familiar support they are used to.

This novel is written in alternating narratives and praise poems by each sister, Sarah and Jeannie. An author's note at the end of the novel pointed out ( I had not noticed) that the narrative poem written by each sister has the same number of syllables as the age of the sister at the time of the narrative. Each narrative poem is carefully crafted to be so fluid that the reader barely notices that they are reading verse at all. The intervening praise poems draw attention to a particular aspect mentioned by the sister in the previous narrative and drives home the raw emotions that the separated sisters are feeling. I especially found that the praise poems following Jeannie's narrative truly struck a cord. For example, in the narrative she describes how she and her mother must spend their days scavenging or begging for food or work. In the praise poem, simply titled "food", the line "finding in each day food to carry us beyond that day," really brings home the hunger and the vulnerability they must have felt. An extremely good read for middle/high school students.

Awards/Reviews:
School Library Journal: *Star Reviewed, "the easy flow of the verse and its emotional impact that will carry even reluctant readers into the windswept landscape and the hardships and dreams of these two girls."
Booklist: *Star Reviewed, "In concluding notes, Frost explains the poetic forms she used, which braid together the two immediate voices with echoing words and rhythms."
Publisher's Weekly: "ingeniously structured novel in verse."
Voice of Youth Advocates: "a lyrical feeling that transports the reader and prevents the transitions in the story between Canada and Scotland from being too jarring."

Connections:
Discuss the different trials of immigrants who come to America, the Irish potato famine.
Other books by Helen Frost:
Frost, Helen. Diamond Willow. ISBN 9780374317768
Frost, Helen. Keesha's House. ISBN 9780374400125



Image credit: www.sarahmillerbooks.blogspot.com