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. (Age 12 and older)

“You / me / sisters / always” (7). In 1850, Sarah and Jeannie’s family are evicted from their home in the Outer Hebrides and are forced to emigrate to Canada. But Sarah decides to stay behind with their grandmother on Mingulay and makes a braid of Jennie’s hair and her own so that each will carry with them a symbol of their love. Similarly, Frost masterfully braids together the sisters’ stories of their different lives heard in alternating narrative poems inter spersed with short “praise poems.” The settings of Mingulay and Cape Breton together with historical details, relevant to each context, are beautifully ren dered in this novel in verse. 2007 YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, The Lion and Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry, 2007 NCSS-CSC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, 2007 Notable Book in Historical Fiction, 2007 Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts List. hc

A tale of two sisters, bound together by a braid of hair, even as fate pulls them apart.

In alternating narrative poems, sisters Jeannie and Sarah share their interwoven stories. As Jeannie leaves Scotland during the Highland Clearances with her father, mother, and younger siblings, Sarah stays behind with her grandmother, hiding so she can remain in the Western Isles where their family had lived for generations. Each sister carries a length of the other's hair braided with her own, a reminder of their unbreakable bond despite the distance between them.

Award-winning poet Helen Frost twists strand over strand of language, braiding words at the edges of her poems to create new poetic forms while intertwining the destinies of two young girls and those who cross their paths in this unforgettable novel in verse. 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, perfect for fans of historical fiction and sibling stories told through poetry.