Frost, Helen. Hidden. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011. Print.
Annotation: Two girls, Wren and Darra, share a very traumatic experience early in their young lives and come away with different perspectives of that event. Darra's father steals a car and locks it in his garage, unaware that Wren is hiding in the backseat. Darra is the only one aware that Wren is there. Six years later,they are coincidentally brought together again at Oakwood Summer Camp. It is at camp, assigned to the same cabin, where the girls reluctantly begin to uncover feelings from the past and imagine possibilities for the future.
Justification for Nomination:
Helen Frost has done it again! -written another well crafted and spell binding YA work! Hidden captures your attention from the very first page by Frost's skillful use of cuttingly clear descriptive verse and interior monologue. The opening page vividly describes Wren's fear of being in the backseat of her mother's car as it is stolen. Her mother, running in to pay for gas, will not know the whereabouts of her child for several days.It is only Darra, the daughter of the kidnapper, who eventually realizes a girl, her age, is trapped within their locked garage. Frost masterfully alternates between chapters describing Wren and Darra's memory of the event.
It is not, however, until the last part of the novel, that Wren and Darra re-encounter each other as teenagers. Cabin Eight at Camp Oakwood is where they begin to relive and acknowledge feelings of guilt and blame which they have been harboring for the past six years. It is not until the girls are forced to participate in the same Lifesaving swimming class that they begin to really 'talk' to each other. A water game introduced by their counselor, called 'Drown Last', puts them into direct contact with each and produces dramatic results!
Through the clever use of verse, the reader is able to envision different perspectives of the same incident which Wren and Darra experienced as eight year olds. In the beginning of the novel, each girl's thoughts revolve around their parents reactions. By the end of the novel, these teenage girls have different concerns; their main interests now center on the reaction of their peers and on their own opinions. Frost realistically illustrates the developmental differences between an eight year olds thoughts and those of a fourteen year old. The author brilliantly illustrates the pivotal points of change within the adolescence's development. As Wren and Darra become teenagers they achieve more emotional independence from their parents, develop social skills and expand their sense of community.
Furthermore, I was swept away by this amazing novel in verse! The lyrical rhythm and flowing structure has a magnetic quality which doesn't let you go! The white spaces between the text highlight the flowing transitions and emotional intensity of the dialogue. Frost consistently creates page after page in this manner. Additionally, at the end of book, she explains an alternate way to read the novel through specific placement of her verse- a 'hidden' meaning to an already rich and compelling story!
I nominate Hidden wholeheartedly! Frost's work has it all; depth, craft and aesthetics! This novel in verse creates a multi layered plot with the intensity that young adults, and adults, crave. Helen Frost has delivered a perfect little package.
Genre Category: Verse Novel / Realistic Fiction/ Coming of Age
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