Helen Frost – författare

Using diamond-shaped poems, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family.

A Boston Globe Best Children''s Book of 2017A 2017 BCCB Blue Ribbon BookA 2017 New York Public Library Best Book for KidsA 2017 VOYA Top Shelf Fiction Pick for Middle School ReadersA 2018 NCTE Notable Verse NovelA 2018 CCBC Choices BookClaire and Abi have always loved their summers at the lake house, but this year, everything''s different. Dad and Pam, their stepmom, are expecting a new baby, and they''ve cleared out all of Mom''s belongings to make room. And last summer, Abi was looking at boys, but this summer, boys are looking back at her. While Abi sneaks around, Claire is left behind to make excuses and cover up for her. Claire doesn''t want her family to change, but there doesn''t seem to be a way of stopping it. By the end of their time at the house, the two sisters have learned that growing up doesn''t have to mean their family growing apart. WHEN MY SISTER STARTED KISSING is Helen Frost''s beautiful novel-in-verse about summertime and coming of age.A Margaret Ferguson Book

When Wren Abbott and Darra Monson are eight years old, Darra's father steals a minivan. He doesn't know that Wren is hiding in the back. The hours and days that follow change the lives of both girls. Darra is left with a question that only Wren can answer. Wren has questions, too. Years later, in a chance encounter at camp, the girls face each other for the first time. They can finally learn the truth—that is, if they're willing to reveal to each other the stories that they've hidden for so long. Told from alternating viewpoints, this novel-in-poems reveals the complexities of memory and the strength of a friendship that can overcome pain.

Engrossing tales from the fifth gradeEvery child is like A little world with ever-changing weather,Nights and mornings. And somehow, here we are,Spinning through the universe together.Unforgettable students in this fifth-grade classroom reveal their private feelings about birth and death, a missing bicycle and a first kiss, as well as their thoughts about recess, report cards, fitting in, and family.Using a rich array of traditional poetic forms, such as sonnets, sestinas, and acrostics, Helen Frost interweaves the stories of the kids in Room 214 and their teacher. A final section giving detailed analyses of the twenty-two forms will be of special interest.

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.

There''smore to me thanmost peoplesee.Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents'' house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it''s just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn''t reveal even to herself.Diamond Willow is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.