The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Pages: 268
Intended Audience: Teens and up.
Genre: War Diary
Notes for Parents: This is a true account and includes suffering and some discussion of Jewish treatment during the Nazi regime.

The Back Cover

In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexe” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

At the end of World War II, Otto Frank, Anne’s father and the only surviving family member, returned to Amsterdam. Mr. Frank was presented with notebooks and papers in Anne’s handwriting that had been rejected by the Gestapo when they arrested the families. At first Mr. Frank only circulated Anne’s diary to friends as a memorial, but he was eventually convinced to make it public. Since then, it has been translated into more than 30 languages.

What’s good?

It’s so fortunate to not only have a real life account of what life was like for a Jew in hiding during World War II, but to hear it from the perspective of a young girl with an obvious talent for writing. We experience her normal teenage highs and lows (a bad relationship with her mother, a crush on a boy) mixed with the hopes and fears that bombings, gunfire, and radio broadcasts bring to her and her isolated group. As the months go by, her musings turn philosophical and she wonders about things like strength of character, religion, and diplomacy. It’s with such great irony that she dreamed of being a published writer when the war ended.
Best Part: “Surely the time will come when we are people again, and not just Jews.” (pg. 207)

What isn’t good?

Like any young girl’s diary, notations include rants, gossip, dry ruminations, and many repetitive entries. However, I think it would have decreased the value of Anne’s contribution had these parts been taken out. Without them, we wouldn’t have seen the maturation in both her observations and her writing.
Worst part: None

Recommendation þþþþo

While the story itself is by no means a “page-turner,” the fact that this is an actual account of life in hiding for Jews in Holland is fascinating. Boredom, hunger, and fear are surprisingly no more frequent than optimism, desire, and aspiration. Anne is a thoroughly capable narrator and a beautiful writer. Her story should be known by everyone.

Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl. New York: Bantam, c1952, 1993.