Hope Road

The Diary of a Young Girl [Anne Frank]

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank *****

You know the storyline - a Jewish girl, her family, and some friends go into hiding for two years during the Nazi regime in Holland. Said girl writes her thoughts and observations of her life during this time in a diary, which is found and published after her death in a concentration camp. It has become a classic, and it was written by a young teenager.

My favorite aspect of this book will forever be Anne’s powerful narrative voice. Her words speak, and more than that they smell and taste and touch. She gives her diary, “Kitty,” an intimate portrait of life in the “Secret Annexe,” both public and private - of the ups-and-downs of people’s relationships, of her inner struggles and growth, of her love. Reading her diary is like looking through the window at the war from two perspectives - one from the outside in, at the life of a girl and a family who were sucked into the Nazi vacuum through no fault of their own; and the other from the inside out, at the crazy world war swirling around the epicenter of one fourteen-year-old girl.

Recommended age level: 15+. Anne deals with some personal and romantic issues, some of which are described a little graphically. There is nothing that should be too problematic for older teenagers, and it is things they can relate to, but this is probably inappropriate for junior highers.