The Braid, by Helen Frost, 2006
Frost, Helen. The
Braid. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. ISBN 978-0-37430962-6
Ages 12 and up
Emulating the title
of her book, The Braid, author Helen
Frost weaves together the story of two sisters, Sarah and Jeannie, who are
separated by circumstances that leave Sarah, the eldest sister, in Scotland
with her grandmother while the rest of the family is forced to emigrate to
Canada.
Frost gives the reader
some important historical context for this story in her introduction, which is crucial
to the reader’s understanding as she sets the stage for this touching story.
In the 1850’s, Scotland went through its second wave of the Highland
Clearances, where wealthy landowners evicted thousands of Scottish Highlanders
from their land, primarily to make room for sheep farming. The tenant farmers
and their families were forced to start over on the lowlands seashore, or were
forced to emigrate to Canada or the United States.
 |
| Illustration by Louise Brierley, image from goodreads.com |
The night before the
family is being forced to emigrate, Sarah braids her hair together with that of
her sister, Jeannie. As Jeannie sleeps, Sarah cuts the braid and leaves half
for her sister as a remembrance just before she runs away to the hills to avoid
the forced relocation. The family must leave without her. During the agonizing
voyage across the Atlantic, the family patriarch and two youngest children die of cholera, leaving
Jeannie and her mother on their own in a country where they don’t know anyone
and must survive on their own. Meanwhile, Sarah, on the other side of the ocean, finds herself in love, but
pregnant out of wedlock, and scared of the consequences for herself and her
child. Alternating between
the sisters’ points of view, the story tells of the hardships, loves lost and
found, and an ending that includes a reunion by letter.
It is a powerful story of love, sacrifice, and family.
Frost wrote this
story in free verse poetry, with a woven intricacy that rivals a Celtic knot,
from which the author admits she derived her poetic inspiration. In her “Notes
on Form” after the end of the poem, she describes the poem’s structure as
having three elements: narrative poems in two alternating voices, praise poems
which praise something mentioned in the previous narrative poem, and line
lengths based on syllabic counts. The praise poems, which are all eight lines
in length, are braided together horizontally, with the last line of the
previous praise poem written as the first line of the next praise poem. The
long narrative poems are braided vertically. The last words of each line in one
narrative poem are the first words in each line of the next narrative poem. And
in the narrative poems, the syllabic count of each line is the same number of
that girl’s age, both of which increase as the story progresses through the
years (Frost, 2006). The complexity of the poem is remarkable, but could be
lost on readers if it weren’t for Frost’s explanation at the end. Then of
course, most readers like myself will probably go back into the text to find
examples of the author’s explanations.
The book is not
illustrated, but artist Louise Brierley’s folk-art style watercolor cover illustration shows a
poignant scene from the book where Sarah is staring out at the sea as she is
being rowed in a boat to another island to live with her grandmother.
Reading
and writing connections:
· As part of reading of this poem,
students could use the inquiry method to explore the Highland Clearances – what
they were, why they happened, and the consequences.
· Have students try their hands at
interwoven poetry. It doesn’t have to have the complexity of Frost’s poem, but
challenge them to use letters and/or words in such a way that they are somehow
intertwined or patterned in the poem.
· Students can also explore
immigration through inquiry. What significant events in history caused surges
in immigration to places such as Canada, Australia, and the United States? What
are relevant issues in immigration today?
Awards:
Kirkus
Reviews Editor’s Choice, 2006
School
Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 2006
Bank
Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, 2007
Reviews:
"Incredible
imagery, rich vocabulary and powerful storytelling."--Kirkus
"This gem of a
book ultimately tackles age-old issues of teen pregnancy, death, poverty, and
first love in a timeless manner… Accomplished and impressive."--School
Library Journal, starred review
"Frost’s
ingeniously structured novel in verse… may be set in 1850, but its themes will
resonate with today’s teens… Memorable."--Publishers Weekly, starred
review
"Amazing,
lyrical, and fascinating. Frost’s work is astonishing in both its design and
execution."—Booklist
If you want to learn
more about author Helen Frost, here is a link to her website:
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