Book Review - Hidden

 

  1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Frost, Helen. (2011). HIDDEN: A NOVEL. Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN: 9780374382216

  1. PLOT SUMMARY

Frost tells the story of a little girl being accidentally kidnapped during a robbery and the implications that this event had on both of the family’s lives. Writing between a free-verse style for Wren’s point of view and a unique paragraph style for Darra’s, she writes about both of the girls meeting at camp years later and how they navigate their path towards friendship. They both grow emotionally from this experience and understand each other better and the roles that they played.


  1. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The differing viewpoints accompanied by the different styles of poetry adds an aspect that allows the reader to better understand the characters. Wren has a more lyrical flow that the author depicts with free-verse and with the formatting of the stanzas. The spaces allow for the passage of time to be shown without being told, and the indents give the speech a more “train of thought” flow which fits with the style effortlessly. Furthermore, when Wren is younger, her lines are shorter, showing her panic and fitting her age appropriately.


On the other hand, Darra’s style is an interesting mix of sentences in a paragraph format and what seem to be random cut offs to start the new lines. When further inspected, the author created a separate poem using the words at the end of longer sentences. These smaller poems provided more insight into Darra as a character and gave the reader an interesting feature to explore.


The intertwining of the main character’s lives can also be seen through the different organization styles that the author utilizes. For all of Part 1, Wren is the only point of view, showing the informal introduction of the two characters though they never even speak to each other let alone see one another. In Part 2, Darra is the only perspective the audience gets insight to, maintaining the concept that they don’t know what each other looks like. Finally in Part 3, they have seen each other and their chapters then alternate, weaving together their character development and their connectedness.


On the whole, this story has a powerful plot that analyzes how intimate relationships between two people of differing circumstances connected by one tragic event are navigated and can be made into something better.


  1. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

ALA NOTABLE BOOK

LEE BENNETT HOPKINS CHILDREN’S POETRY AWARD, HONOR BOOK

WILLIAM ALLAN WHITE AWARD

KIRKUS STAR REVIEW: “Both tender and insightful, this well-crafted, fast-paced tale should have wide teen appeal.”


  1. CONNECTIONS

*Have the readers find the hidden poems in Darra’s point of view and then write how that helps them understand the story better.

*Have students write how they would feel if they were in Darra or Wren’s situation and if they would have handled it the same way.

*Other books by Helen Frost:

KEESHA’S HOUSE ISBN: 9780312641276

            SALT: A STORY OF FRIENDSHIP IN A TIME OF WAR ISBN: 9780374363871
            DIAMOND WILLOW ISBN: 9780374317768

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