Parents' Guide to

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

By Barbara Schultz, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Inspiring wartime journal reveals teen's inner life.

Book Anne Frank Autobiography 1947
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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age 12+

Based on 9 parent reviews

christineaustin100
christineaustin100 Parent of 14-year-old
October 12, 2022
age 12+
This is a beautiful and inspirational story that everyone should read. Anne’s positivity is admirable and something that everyone should strive for. “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” In a world where no one is given the benefit of the doubt, we need to hear these inspiring words. Yes, there are some inappropriate parts that are not for young kids. I read it at twelve and was fine. Of course, it is about the Holocaust, which was absolutely horrible and inhumane which is not a story for young kids. And some people complain that Anne is complainy (that’s irony right there), lazy, and loud. But what makes this story so amazing is that Anne was just an ordinary girl with an extraordinary outlook on life. The book would not be nearly as popular if she were perfect. This is not a character that someone made up. Anne was a real person and had her flaws, just like us. I completely understand if the book did not interest you, but also, it is someones life. This actually happened to someone, this is what someone felt. You cannot put a rating on that, whether 5 stars or 1. A lot of people say that Anne is not a hero. She is. She was not a hero then, how could she be? But she is a hero now, because she gives us empathy and optimism. Please read this book. It is never too late. This book could truly change our world. If a 15 year old girl living in hiding could be positive and cheerful, what can we do today?

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
2 people found this helpful.
Josephine G.
Josephine G. Adult
June 14, 2023
age 12+

Follow the Golden Rule. Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.

I am 82 and was brought up in WW2 in Birmingham UK. My father was an RAFVR pilot stationed in India and I did not see him until 1944. My mother put newspapers on the floor to keep it clean so I learned to read using headlines. I am still a newspaper junkie to this day. One day in 1945, I couldn’t find the newspapers, she had hidden them. When I found them, I was (and still am) stunned. There were pictures of Allied troops liberating the Nazi concentration camps and heaping recognizable bodies on carts. I couldn’t believe people had behaved this way. When I went to school, I was tiny, thin and dark. The other girls called me Jew-girl, it was so derogatory. I ran home crying and my wise mother told me to tell them that the Jewish community was the cleverest in the whole wide world. Later, at age 12, I read Anne Frank’s Diary and I was stunned again. I couldn’t believe what she had to live through. The memory lives on. When I went to Amsterdam as an adult, I couldn’t visit the annex, I was so upset. My memory was so vivid. I visited a bookshop with my 2 tiny children, and while they were searching for books, I leafed through a WW2 book. There was a picture of mothers leading their tiny children, just like mine, into a concentration camp. I just stood there and cried and cried. Yes we should encourage middle school youngsters to read her diary and learn how to treat others, particularly those that are different to us.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 9 parent reviews

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?

Our review:
Parents say (9 ):
Kids say (90 ):

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 preteens 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.

Talk to Your Kids 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?

Book Details

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