Hidden

Title: Hidden

Author: Helen Frost

Publisher: Frances Foster Books (2011)

Genre(s): Realistic Fiction, Verse Novel

Length: 142 pages

Synopsis:  At eight years old, Wren Abbott was accidentally kidnapped in a car-theft gone wrong.  For two days she hides, unbeknownst to her kidnapper, in a cold garage, listening to the voices of the family on the other side of the garage door, including a daughter her own age, Darra.  When Wren escapes, she and Darra both believe they can set the whole thing behind them...until six years later they come face to face in Cabin Eight at Camp Oakwood.

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Opinion: 

I was most pleasantly surprised by this little book.  Instead of reading like a sparsely written prose novel, this book is like a novel with all the extras pared away.  Only the essence of the story are left.  The girls' voices are distinct and, though they don't know it, surprisingly similar.  They are reluctant to talk about their experience with one another and fear that their secret differences will somehow set them apart.  Instead, the past brings these girls together.  The book is a quick read, but clever in its construction.  The verse form is not distracting; instead, it makes their stories somehow more personal and immediate.  For anyone willing to take a step outside the world of prose, this makes the journey both easy and enjoyable.  After a first read through, Frost's notes on the form of the book open even further insights to both the story and the level of care with which it was crafted.