Frost, H. (2011). Hidden. Harrisonburg, Virginia: RR Donnelley & Sons Company.
BOOK SUMMARY
As a young girl, Wren is accidentally kidnapped in a gas station robbery gone wrong. Darra, the daughter of the unintended kidnapper, connects with the girl, despite the fact that she never sees her. Six years later, the two end up crossing paths again at the same summer camp, each ultimately having to face their past so that they can move on from the events that haunt them both in their own ways.
Impressions and opinion of the book
The premise of Helen Frost's book is as unique as is the style in which she presents it. Anyone doubting the power a novel written in verse might hold should definitely pick up this book. The kidnapping of Wren is the catalyst for many changes in both girls lives, and while we learn what happens through flashbacks, the emphasis of the story is actually on how the girls have carried their past with them, Darra harboring anger towards the girl who caused her father to be taken away, and Wren trying to deny the past even happened. When the two meet again, they are forced to work through the feelings they have shored up, ultimately learning pieces of the story they never knew.
Frost beautifully delineates between characters, giving them each their own poetic form. The title encompasses so many elements of the story, from the child, Wren, who remains hidden to survive, to the facts that keep Darra certain she could have prevented her father from being arrested. Even the initial friendship of the girls as they begin to work through their fear and anger is a secret from the rest of the people at camp. In addition, Frost creates a hidden poem within the story, revealed only to those who read the author's note at the end.
The sense of connection one gets to the main characters as well as the multiple layers within the novel make this one that students will be eager to analyze and reanalyze, most likely finding something new with each reading.
Full-Text Review
From the award-winning Frost comes a wildly imaginative, thought-provoking novel in verse that centers on the unlikely friendship that arises between two teenage girls as a result of an accidental kidnapping. Darra Monson’s father, an abusive, unemployed mechanic, steals a minivan, not knowing that 8-year-old Wren Abbott, daughter of the local school superintendent, lies hidden in the back. Told entirely from her perspective, Wren’s unwitting capture and eventual escape comprise the first third of the story before the narration switches to Darra, who relates how her father is caught and imprisoned, all the while blaming Wren for his arrest. Though from opposite sides of the tracks, Darra and Wren’s paths cross again six years later at summer camp, where the 14-year-olds see each other for the first time. Slowly the two begin to unpack that uninvited trauma. After breaking the ice and overcoming Wren’s nearly drowning Darra, the two begin to talk, and Frost’s lyric narrative resolves movingly by alternating between the two protagonists. Frost’s tale exhibits her trademark character development that probes the complexities of intimate relationships. Here Wren’s touching statement, “I was a happy little girl / wearing a pink dress,” eventually leads to Darra’s private admission to Wren: “None of it was our fault.” Both tender and insightful, this well-crafted, fast-paced tale should have wide teen appeal. (notes on form) (Poetry. 10-16)
Kirkus (2011). [Review for the book Hidden by H. Frost ]. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/helen-frost/hidden-frost/
Library Use
At the end of the novel, Helen Frost mentions that while she has studied many forms of poetry, she likes to create her own. She even states that she has done so in many of her books. Upon the completion of their poetry unit in the classroom, it would be fun to introduce students to some of the forms Frost has created, perhaps even asking them to try and determine what structure she used. After analyzing her new forms, allowing students to create their own forms and emulate the newly created styles of their classmates would surely generate a new kind of excitement around poetry and verse.
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