Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Schultz
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Inspiring wartime journal reveals teen's inner life.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 11+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 9 parent reviews
Based on 97 kid reviews
Kids say that the book is an inspiring and important read, presenting a touching narrative of a young girl's experiences during a traumatic time in history. However, many reviewers caution that it contains mature themes related to puberty and relationships, suggesting it is best suited for readers aged 12 and older.
- historical significance
- mature themes
- age recommendation
- inspiring narrative
- emotional impact
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
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 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
- Author :
- Genre : Autobiography
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Pocket Books
- Publication date : June 25, 1947
- Number of pages : 258
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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