Paula McMillen, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Willow is part Athabascan, lives in small-town Alaska, and loves helping her dad take care of their sled dogs. She is sure she could make the trip from her home to her grandparents’ cabin by herself if her parents would just trust her with a sled and three of the dogs. When she finally convinces them, all goes well until she unexpectedly encounters a downed tree around a blind curve, and Roxy, the lead dog, cannot stop in time. Not only does Willow feel responsible for the devastating injury to their best dog, but she fears she is going to lose her truest friend. Once again, she decides to head to the sanctuary of her grandparents’ home, this time taking Roxy as a passenger, only to get lost in a snowstorm. Fortunately, this is a girl with family that loves her and ancestral spirits that watch over her. The story is told from Willow’s point of view--in diamond-shaped text, complete with heart-felt hidden messages--and also from the perspectives of her spirit guardians, in the form of animals she lives with or encounters in the wild. This is a strong, independent, and engaging female protagonist who struggles with the common issues around popularity, growing independence from family, and personal responsibility. The book could serve as a positive introduction to belief systems of Alaska Natives, or just an intriguing model to get students involved in writing their own stories. An author’s note gives a brief description of the Alaskan town where she once taught school and discloses the significance of the diamond willow, which only reveals its diamond shaped patterns when the rough exterior is peeled away. 2008, Frances Foster Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $16.00. Ages 8 to 14.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices 2009)
Twelve-year-old Willow’s first solo dogsledding trip starts joyfully, with a twelve-mile journey to her grandparents’ cabin. It ends tragically when Rosy, the beloved lead dog, is blinded on the way back home after running into a fallen tree on a curve where Willow failed to slow down. Willow’s shame and guilt turn to anger when she realizes that her parents plan on putting Rosy down. She considers Rosy her friend and confidant, and friendship doesn’t come easily for Willow. Willow also hasn’t given up hope that Rosy will see again. Sure that her grandparents will let Rosy stay with them, Willow enlists the help of her one good friend, Kaylie, to accompany her on another dogsled journey to her grandparents’ place. Poet Helen Frost’s story is set in a fictional town in Alaska’s interior. Willow is part Athabascan, and the spirits of her ancestors, embodied in a host of wild creatures, play a critical role when Willow and Kaylie end up lost in a blizzard. Each of Frost’s narrative, concrete poems—all variations on a diamond shape—have a hidden message emphasized in boldface type. They are the essence of feeling in each poem, just as the animals in Frost’s story are the essence of a loved one. The revelation of a secret kept far too long brings the story to a rich emotional climax that affirms Rosy’s place in Willow’s heart and family and encourages Willow to open her heart to happiness and let others in. CCBC Category: Fiction for Children. 2008, Frances Foster Books / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 111 pages, $16.00. Ages 10-14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2008 (Vol. 76, No. 12))
Diamond Willow, a young Alaskan of Athabascan and European descent, doesn't have many friends; she's happiest when she's sledding her father's dogs and visiting her grandparents. When her first solo dogsled trip to her grandparents ends with a terrible crash that blinds her father's favorite dog, Roxy, she sets to making sure that Roxy will live out her days with care and not undergo euthanasia—a decision that leads to an amazing revelation about her family. Frost presents her story in a series of poems in Willow's voice, using a form inspired by the marks on a diamond willow stick; roughly diamond-shaped and no two exactly alike, each contains a "hidden message" printed in boldface that spans several lines and encapsulates the poem. It's a novel idea, and largely works quite well. Less effective are interstitial narratives in the voices of the characters' ancestors, who take part in the story as animals. This device, although integrated into the narrative as a whole, serves to distract the reader from the quiet power of Willow's story. Flawed, but not fatally so. (author's note) 2008, Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 128p, $16.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 to 14. © 2008 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Lauren Marston (The ALAN Review, Fall 2008 (Vol. 36, No. 1))
An interesting combination of poetry and prose, this book tells the story of a Diamond, a 12-year-old girl growing up in central Alaska. Each poem is in the shape of a diamond, and Frost uses bold words in each poem to reveal the hidden feelings of Diamond. The form and depth of each poem is striking and stirring. The prose sections are told from the perspective of Diamond’s animal ancestors, who periodically intervene in Diamond’s life. Diamond shares her deepest fears, longings, and adventures with the reader. The greatest of these adventures occurs when Diamond convinces her family to let her mush alone to her grandparents’ home. Along the way Diamond has an accident that will eventually lead her on a dangerous adventure. Frost’s book sparkles with the beauty of nature, realization of truth, and surprising twists in both form and plot. Diamond Willow is ideal for middle school students and/or as a complement to any poetry unit. Category: Poetry. YA--Young Adult. 2008, Frances Foster Books, 128 pp., $16.00. Ages young adult.Fayetteville, AR

Karen Coats (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, June 2008 (Vol. 61, No. 10).)
Twelve-year-old Willow lives in a small town in central Alaska, and she is content to fade into the background mostly unnoticed at school and at home, so long as she can run her dogs. When her carelessness results in an accident that threatens her family’s lead dog, Roxy, with permanent blindness, it looks like Roxy may be put down; horrified, guilt-ridden, and resentful about being excluded from the decision, Willow decides she has to take Roxy to her grandparents’ house, a two-hour sled ride that turns dangerous when a storm hits and obscures the trail. Her action gets her noticed all right, but instead of the anger she fears, her family responds with revelations that put her feelings into contexts she never dreamed of. Taking her cue from a botanical phenomenon that occurs in the northern climates in which her story is set, Frost invents an ingenious poetic form for her story that is both stable and fluid; like the diamond willow branches that she is imitating, the diamond shapes of her poems vary. In the middle of each, she boldfaces selected words, which together constitute a phrase that reveals a deeper and more concise truth hidden within the flow of words that make up the diamond shape. Just as the dark heart of the diamonds in nature reveals the scar of a branch that has fallen off, these phrases often indicate a deeply felt loss or powerful but unspoken emotion. Interspersed with these poems are prose passages from the perspective of Willow’s late ancestors and relatives, whose spirits now inhabit animals that watch over the girl as she ventures into the fraught territory between childhood and adolescence. Frost has spun metaphoric gold out of an evocative natural landscape, and she knows just how to craft it into an elegant and moving story of a young girl’s deepening understanding of the relationships she shares with those around her Review Code: R* -- Recommended. A book of special distinction. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2008, Foster/Farrar, 111p., $16.00. Grades 6-9.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2008)
After an accident leaves her favorite sled dog, Roxy, blind, twelve-year-old Willow must transport Roxy to her grandparents for safe-keeping. The first-person, present-tense narrative is typeset in diamond shapes; bold-faced words at the heart of each diamond hold an additional nugget of meaning. Despite some misplaced mysticism, as a dog and dogsled story, the tale wears its knowledge gracefully. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2008, Farrar/Foster, 109pp, $16.00 (hb). Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Marla K. Unruh (VOYA, October 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 4))
Willow thinks of herself as unspectacular, like the gray and unremarkable bark of the willow tree. Because she is not one of the "sparkly" people in her Alaskan middle school, she wants to ask Grandma and Grandpa to homeschool her, and persuades Mom and Dad to let her take a small dog team to visit her grandparents. Speeding downhill on the way back, Willow cannot avoid a fallen tree. Her favorite dog, Roxy, is injured and blinded. Rather than let her parents put the dog down, Willow and her best friend hurriedly put Roxy on a sled and dog-mush down the trail to her grandparents once again. But along the way, blinding snow obliterates the landmarks, and the girls and dogs have to hunker down in a subzero snowstorm. When they are finally rescued, the relieved parents realize it is time to reveal a stunning family secret. Under its bark, the diamond willow is beautiful, with reddish-brown diamond shapes on a cream-colored shank. Likewise this lyrical gem of a story reveals the inner beauty of a seemingly ordinary Athabascan girl. Each page of her narration is a poem in the shape of a diamond, with a few bolded words in the middle conveying a second message. The ancestors who watch over her in the form of forest animals speak in interspersed pages of prose. An engaging survival tale, it is also the story of a girl who finds within herself the grace to grow up. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (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). 2008, Farrar Straus Giroux, 128p., $16. Ages 11 to 15.

Colby Smith, Teen Reviewer (VOYA, October 2008 (Vol. 31, No. 4))
Willow, a part Athabascan Indian who lives in Alaska, is a typical girl. When she conscripts her best friend, Kaylie, into a wild adventure to save her favorite dog, the story transforms into a thrilling outdoor escapade that will entrance the reader. This delightful novel is a must-read. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2008, Farrar Straus Giroux, 128p., $16. Ages 11 to 15.