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Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
- By Anne Frank
- Genre: Autobiography
Common Sense Media says
Inspiring wartime journal reveals teen's inner life.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Anne Frank's diary is a singular, moving look at World War II from a young girl's perspective. The Franks, along with another family, the Van Daans, hide in order to avoid capture during the German occupation of Holland. Aided by friends on the outside, Anne and the others spend two years in the "secret annex": several rooms enclosed in the warehouse of Anne's father's business. While war rages outside, Anne is a normal teen, thinking at least as much about friends, and boyfriends, and how her parents annoy her, as she does about issues of the day. She is a remarkably clever, thoughtful narrator, and her diary is as entertaining as it is a significant historical document.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is required reading for many middle-schoolers, and it will be rightfully upsetting to many of those readers. Though the events within the diary offer only a glimpse of the horrors inflicted on Jewish people by the Nazis, there is a disturbing element of fear throughout. What we as readers know about what happened to Jews outside the world of the book, and what happened to Anne after the book ends, is inescapable in the experience of reading Anne's diary.
Many editions of Anne Frank's diary include an Afterword, explaining the events of World War II and the fate of Anne and the other inmates of the secret annex.
What's the story?
In 1942, during the Nazi occupation of Holland, a Jewish girl named Anne Frank receives a blank diary for her 13th birthday. Treating the empty book like an imaginary friend named "Kitty," Anne writes faithfully, describing her fondest wishes and feelings. When her family is forced into hiding to avoid capture by the German police, the book becomes like a lifeline for Anne, who describes the fear, hunger, longing, and boredom she experiences during two years living in the place she calls the "secret annex." Trapped in cramped quarters with her parents and sister, three members of the Van Daan family, and an elderly neighbor, Mr. Dussel, Anne begins to mature, even experiencing her first love in the annex, and finds her greatest solace in the written word.
Is it any good?
If a novelist were to attempt to invent an authentic young narrator, situation, and story arc, that writer could do no better than the teen Anne Frank did with her diary. ANNE FRANK: THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL is at once instructive, inspiring, and immensely engaging. Readers of any age will feel moved by Anne's great fears and everyday problems. Teens and pre-teens will identify strongly with her struggles to be understood -- or to be left alone -- and will thrill with her as young love unfolds. This is essential reading for young people learning about World War II, and it's a meaningful book about the inner life of teens.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about what makes Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl such an important book about World War II. What does Anne's diary teach readers about her world, about war? What makes Anne's story so meaningful? How did knowing what happened to Anne and so many other girls like her affect your experience of reading the book?
There's also plenty to address along the lines of Anne's thoughts and feelings as a teenager. She calls her diary "Kitty," and writes as though she were corresponding with another girl. Why does she need a friend so much that she invents one?
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AGE
Positive Role Models and Messages
I really loved this! I read it in sixth grade and it has really good role models and messages.
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AWESOME
I read this book when I was about 8 and then again when I was 14. I think that it is good 8 and up.
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Overall, something everyone should read
This was a excellent book for learning for my daughter who is 8 years. I read it with her which I would recomend doing if your kid wants to read the book but does gets scared or disturbed by books.
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AGE
The best book ever!
I first read Anne's diary when I was in 6th grade, and as I read it, I got more interested in the entire book. Over the past few years, I kept on reading the book almost every month. I highly recommend Anne's diary!
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Kid, 11 years old
February 19, 2012
AGE
Detailed, Precise, To-The-Point Review For Worried Parents Who Want The Best For Their Child
There are 2 editions of Anne Frank's diary. Since I read The Definitive Edition (which I say is for GIRLS 12+) I am here to review that. I suggest males to read the critical edition as it has much less content. I will tell you any iffy and suggestive things that ticked me off, but I, not knowing who you nor who your child is, cannot tell you to let your child read or not. I list the pros and cons, you decide "yay" or "nay."
Here goes:
**There is no language, no consumerism (duh, it takes place in the 40's!)So don't worry about THAT.
**Anne talks about menstruation and how she anxiously awaits her period. Sometimes, she says she needs sanitary pads or tampons, but those are scarce because of the fact that they're made of cotton/plastic for the war. She also says her and Margot's bras no longer fit. She wants to go shopping for bras, but as she is in hiding, she can't.
**She talks about feeling a deep desire to touch her breasts and how she used to be very curious about her friend, Jacque, and her body. She asked Jacque if they could touch each other's breasts for proof of their friendship. Jacque refused, but later on, Anne kisses her, whether that's on her cheek or lips, she does not say.
**Anne talks about sex and says that she and Peter, her boyfriend (who, by the way, neither Anne's nor Peter's parents know they're secretly in a relationship) often speak of that topic. On one certain page of the diary, Peter describes the private part of a male and Anne spends quite a long time describing that of a female.
***Lots of Violence: Anne speaks of air raids, bombs, etc. Often, burglaries occur in Otto's warehouse. And, after all, it IS a book about the Holocaust and the World War II.
I think that I covered most of the iffy topics in Anne Frank's Definitive Edition Diary.
Thank you for reading, I hope I aided you in your decision of whether or not to allow your child to read "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition."
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Kid, 11 years old
May 19, 2012
AGE
ANNE FRANK, (by Neve372000)
"The Diary of Anne Frank" is very very sad. Anne is a jew, so she is forced to hide from Hitler. I won't tell you how it ends, but i will tell you to buy lots of tissues.
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AGE
I love Anne frank the book
We are reading this book in class as a class novel. Not once have I ever been so interested in a book my whole life. The whole class is begging to read more pages because we only read it once a day :( My knowledge on world war II has grown so much considering I only knew so little. I feel as if I know Anne and when she's writing diary entries to 'kitty' I feel as though there to me. Words can't describe how strongly I recommend this awesome book! YOU HAVE TO READ IT! :) :) :) :)
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AGE
Amazing
this is a great way for younger people to learn about the Holocaust and what really happened
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| Author: | Anne Frank |
| Book type: | Non-Fiction |
| Genre: | Autobiography |
| Publisher: | Pocket Books |
| Publication date: | October 3, 1982 |
| Number of pages: | 258 |
| Paperback price: | $5.80 |
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