Laura Ruttig (Children's Literature)
Amazing, lyrical, and fascinating, Frost’s work is astonishing in both its design and execution. Written in verse with alternating chapters from two different narrators, Frost tells the story of sisters born in Ireland in the 19th century on the Isle of Barra. Hunger leads to their family’s being ordered to leave the Isle by the bailiff; Sarah, the elder sister, chooses to stay with their grandmother in Ireland, traveling to another island Mingulay. Jeannie leaves with the rest of the family on a ship for Canada. Despite an incredible use of form, neither story becomes in the least bit stilted, flowing easily through the events of each child’s life over a roughly three-year period. In her endnote, Frost reveals that she wrote these long narrative poems to be braided vertically, so that the last word of each line in each of Sarah’s chapters connects to the first word of each line in the following chapter from Jeannie. Furthermore, the long narrative poems are structured such that each line has the same number of syllables as each girl’s age, growing almost imperceptibly as the novel progresses. The symmetry Frost uses is simply breathtaking, more so for being nearly unnoticeable without close examination. Her use of imagery and depiction of the girls’ lives elevate this work to the level of art. 2006, Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus and Giroux, $16.00. Ages 14 to 18.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2007)
In the middle of the nineteenth century, under the cruelty of English rule, a Scottish family living on an island in the Outer Hebrides is forced to leave their homeland. Helen Frost tells the story of the family’s fate from the perspective of the two oldest sisters: Jeannie accompanies her parents and younger siblings on the journey to Canada while Sarah chooses to stay behind rather than abandon their grandmother. In poems written in the sisters’ alternating voices, Jeannie tells of the harsh crossing, when her father and little sister died; the hard, hard times as she and her mother tried to eke out an existence with her little brother; and gradual pride in their small successes over time. Sarah tells of missing her family, of falling in love, of losing her lover through another cruel act of the English, and of being left, unmarried, with a child. The sisters have no way to communicate directly to one another, but the interconnected poems—woven together in an intricate structure Frost developed, inspired by Celtic knotwork—symbolize the connection of the heart that they share across space and time. Frost’s breathtaking writing is something to behold in and of itself. Here, she once again uses her gift with words to tell a haunting and beautiful story. CCBC Category: Fiction for Young Adults. 2006, Farrar Straus and Giroux, 95 pages, $16.00. Age 12 and older.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 19))
Telling of the struggle and adventures of two teenage sisters, one in Nova Scotia, the other on the Isle of Barra in the 1850s, this is also an adventure in language. Told in narrative poems in the alternating voices of the sisters (their ages reflected in the number of syllables in each line), the poems are braided together much as the sisters braid a lock of each other's hair into their own. Between the narrative poems is an ode, which praises something in the previous narrative. Each praise poem begins with the last line of the last praise poem. Thus the strands of the two narratives and the praise poem form a "braid." Forced to leave their native island, the family flees to Canada, but Sarah remains at home, falls in love and worries about the man she loves when he unexpectedly must also go to Canada. Jeannie helps her mother and younger siblings (the father and other siblings died during the voyage) scrape together a living in the new country and finds resources in which to cobble a shelter for them to inhabit. Readers will hold their breaths waiting to discover what happens to the sisters while their verbal reservoirs will be restocked with incredible imagery, rich vocabulary and powerful storytelling. 2006, Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 112p, $16.00. Category: Historical fiction/poetry. Ages 12 to 15. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Janis Flint-Ferguson (KLIATT Review, November 2006 (Vol. 40, No. 6))
Helen Frost’s novel in poetry form shares the lives of fictional sisters living in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland in 1850, when people were evicted from the islands and sent to live in Scotland, in Canada and in the United States. Sisters Sarah and Jeannie braid their hair together and then cut off the braid so that each may take a braid to remind them of the other. Jeannie leaves with her mother, father and younger siblings as they immigrate to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It is a tragic journey and once in Canada, she and her family have no one on whom to rely. Jeannie finds her own strength and identity as she works for food and shelter. Sarah remains with her elderly grandmother, leaving one island for another, rocky one in the Hebrides chain. There she cares for her grandmother and falls in love with rough Murdo Campbell, who is their main source of supplies and news as he ferries his boat between the islands. They exchange their vow to marry and share one night together before he is evicted and physically forced to sail to Canada. Left with a child, Sarah continues to make a life for herself, hoping that one day she will rejoin her family and Murdo. The novel is written in an intertwining style, which Frost explains in her notes to the reader. While reminiscent of Longfellow’s “Evangeline,” the historical context will not be familiar to American students, but nonetheless gives voice to the tragic circumstances that populated Nova Scotia, Canada. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2006, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Frances Foster Books, 112p., $16.00. Ages 12 to 18.

Douglas K. Dillon, Ph.D. (Library Media Connection, March 2007)
This finely woven story by a Printz-honor author tells of a Scottish family's journey as they are forced from their native land. The characterization focuses on two sisters in the family who have always been close. Sarah, the older sister, stealthily decides to stay in Scotland with her aging grandmother; whereas, Jeannie, the middle child, goes with her parents and siblings on the voyage to America. It is a treacherous journey, and only the mother, young son, and Jeannie survive. Their life in America in the 1850s proves difficult; however, they eventually prosper, with Jeannie finding gradual success. Sarah, on the other hand, becomes pregnant with an illegitimate child in Scotland. A traveler between Scotland and America happens to make connections with both girls, thus keeping the bond strong between them. The book has both prose and poetry, with a poem illustrating character feelings between each prose chapter. This is a great work of historical fiction, which is sure to have a wide audience. Recommended. 2006, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 112pp., $16 hc. Ages 12 to 16.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December 2006 (Vol. 60, No. 4))
When the mid-nineteenth-century Highland Clearances force a Scottish family out of their island home, oldest sister Sarah slips away to join her grandmother on a smaller nearby island rather than cross the Atlantic, while the rest of the family departs for Canada, hoping to find family and a living in Cape Breton. The terrible crossing takes the lives of Sarah’s father and two of the younger children, leaving only Mother, fourteen-year-old Jeannie, and the baby William to face the privations when they arrive to discover Cape Breton struck by scarcity. Back in Scotland, Sarah falls in love with Murdo Campbell, but he’s forcibly shipped off to Canada before they can marry, leaving her pregnant and unsure of her future. The braid of the title refers to the interwoven hair of Sarah and Jeannie, a piece of which each sister holds and treasures. That braid is explored further in the poetic structure of this verse novel, which creates its own innovative verse form: Sarah and Jeannie alternate narration, in unrhymed lines syllabically based on the speaker’s age; each poem subtly relates to the verses around it through shared opening and closing words, while praise poems between the girls’ accounts also interweave. Though complicated to describe, the forms are unobtrusive in the reading, quietly underpinning the narrative poems; Frost is a master at making language fit unforced into meter, so the narrative poems read easily, with a prosy spontaneity but a pulsing rhythm underneath (the more abstract brief praise poems will likely be skipped by readers looking for story rather than lyricism). Between its broken-token variant and melodramatic elements, the story tilts toward the sentimental, but that’s helpful in creating a compelling story that will see poetry-shy readers through; they’ll also be intrigued by the parallel lives of the two sisters and the results of their different life paths. Notes explain the poetic form and a bit about island life, language, and history. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2006, Foster/Farrar, 95p., $16.00. Grades 6-10.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2007)
After the nineteenth-century Highland Clearances leave her homeless, fifteen-year-old Sarah flees to relatives in the Outer Hebrides while her family (including younger sister Jeannie) sails from Scotland to Canada for a new start. The sisters' alternating verse narratives are braided together in a delicate, intricate system of repetition. Historical events are authentic and poignant, the sisters courageous and well realized. Author's note. Category: Older Fiction. 2006, Farrar/Foster, 95pp, 16.00. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Debbie Clifford (VOYA, August 2006 (Vol. 29, No. 3))
Frost weaves a story of two teenaged sisters parted by circumstances in the mid-1800s. Jeannie leaves with the family for Canada while Sarah remains with their grandmother in Scotland. Each carries a braid made from their interwoven hair. After losing her father and two siblings to cholera during the voyage, Jeannie finds unimagined hardship in Cape Breton. She discovers previously unknown strength and resolve when she is forced to provide for what remains of her family in a place totally foreign to them. Meanwhile her sister encounters troubles of the heart. Although she is surrounded by a loving extended family in Scotland, Sarah misses her parents and siblings. Her pain is eased by the blossoming love of a local fisherman; however, that brings complications of a different sort. Throughout their difficulties, each sister finds the braid a source of comfort and a reminder of their bond. The author uses a less obvious poetic form than she did in Keesha's House (Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003/VOYA April 2003), and adds endnotes to explain the forms. Narrative poems in two alternating voices are then linked by praise poems that laud something named in the narrative poems. She also subtly uses syllabic count in the lines of the sisters' narratives to reflect their respective ages. The result is a lyrical feeling that transports the reader and prevents the transitions in the story between Canada and Scotland from being too jarring. Poetry, adventure, romance, historical fiction-this book has something for every reader. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Farrar Straus Giroux, 112p., $16. Ages 11 to 18.

Holly Johnson (WOW Review: Reading Across Cultures, June 2009 (Vol. 1, No. 4))
A historical novel told through the interweaving of narrative and praise poems, The Braid is set toward the end of the Highland Clearances. This story presents one experience out of the thousands involving Highlanders who were moved off the land they farmed and tended, but did not own, so sheep could be raised for greater English profit. Told in the alternating voices of two sisters, readers follow the struggles of one family separated by the Atlantic Ocean when one of the sisters decides to stay with their grandmother in Scotland while the other ventures with the rest of the family to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. At the beginning of the novel, both sisters are expected to leave. The night before the boat sets sail, 15 year-old Sarah playfully braids their hair together, making both girls laugh. As 14 year-old Jeannie sleeps, Sarah cuts off the braid and leaves half for her sister as she slips away to hide so that she can’t be forced from her homeland. Through short excepts, the story shows how both sisters, and by extension other members of the family, learn to live in their new environments—Sarah in Scotland, on the small island of Mingulay, and Jeannie in Cape Breton. The braid becomes the central motif of those who are both woven together by love, but separated by distance and circumstance.
    Written in short excepts divided by the praise poems, The Braid is a middle grade novel that will encourage readers to question not only the reasons for immigration, but the ways in which people are treated even when they have been residents of a place for generations. The characters of Sarah and Jeannie are well developed and allow young readers to think about the place of family, the necessity of relocation, and the possibility and pain of new beginnings. A novel ultimately about courage, the power of family, and the pain of separation, The Braid brings to life the opportunity for readers to develop a more comprehensive understanding of immigration, both historic and current, and of the variety of reasons for emigrating. Thematically, other texts that could be used on a unit about immigration would include Ask Me No Questions (Budhos, 2006), Kezzie (Breslin, 2002), La Línea (Jaramillo, 2002), A Step from Heaven (Na (2003), and Grab Hands and Run (Temple, 1995). An excellent use of narrative and praise poems, the forms of which are explained in the author’s notes, The Braid will also inspire young readers to try these forms for their own enjoyment.
    Helen Frost relied upon the experience of her great-great grandparents’ immigration for the genesis of her story. Working with consultants from Cape Breton and exploring the island of Mingulay, Frost brings her family’s story to life for young adolescents who have little or no knowledge of the Highlands or the potato famine that caused the historic immigration numbers of the mid-19th century. Frost includes a brief explanation of the events of the Highland Clearances, but readers of The Braid will want to know more about the time period and the two settings of Cape Breton and the Outer Hebrides of Scotland Farrar Straus & Giroux.