Who hasn't heard the story of Anne Frank? The young Jewish girl's diary, chronicling her years in hiding in the annex of a house in Amsterdam, has been required reading for years. Sometimes, however, it seems as if the real Anne Frank has been replaced by a cardboard cutout of a little girl, a symbol of all that was lost in the Holocaust. The real Anne Frank, as evidenced in this book, is an imperfect, saucy, complicated teenager. I've heard so many complaints about this book, usually from middle school boys or from grown men who were forced to read the Diary of Anne Frank when they were in junior high. As a librarian, then, I would recommend this book cautiously to patient readers with a tolerance for the banal and an eye for detail. ( )

The power of the truth trumps all fiction. After [The Reader] and [The Book Thief] , I was compelled to turn again to Anne Frank. When Anne and the other 7 secreted behind the bookcase were captured from their hiding place by the SS, her diary pages were left scattered on the floor - to be collected and kept by Miep Gies in hopes of one day restoring them to Anne. Gies, along with her husband and 3 others, had been the lifeline for those in the Secret Annex, smuggling in food, company , news, and necessities of life amidst the war torn and German occupied Netherlands. Of the 8, only Otto Frank survived the concentration camps and lived to publish his daughter's diaries. He made a decision to omit several pages - references to Anne's contentious relationship with her mother and also observations of Anne's growing sexual awareness and growth into young womanhood. Nothing lurid or unsettling, all were understandable angst and curiosity of a teenage girl. This edition, published some years ago, restores those pages, represents her entire diary and adds authenticity to a story of adolescence moving to adulthood in the midst of suffering and war.

Reading Anne Frank at age14 or 34 or 74 is discovering redeeming and disturbing truth. It pictures and affirms the commonalities of young teens of any age and situation - the longing for understanding and affirmation, the conflict of beginning seperation from parents and awareness of their flaws and faults, the optimism of goals and a future, often the self-centered world of naivete. In Anne's diary we see her mature before our eyes. In 2 years, in a situation far removed from normality, we see her growing understanding of human nature, her sense of self - who she is and what she want to become, her awareness of the seriousness of their plight, some mastery of patience and self-control. Her diary is humorous - the expected clashes, the pettiness of 8 people eeking out an existence in dire circumstances. It is poignant and wrenching, juggling fear and desperation with hope and belief in mankind and a future that we know will never be. It is a testament to the spirit within us all to hope and strive and trust when the night is darkest.

We often like to leave Anne Frank right there in her uplifting frame of mind - in spite of the horrors of human existence and crushed hopes, people are really good at heart. We must finish the story though - three days after she wrote those words she was taken away, was on the last transport to leave Westerbork for Auschwitz, died a horrendous death from typhus in Bergen-Belsen and was buried in a mass grave only weeks before the camp was liberated in August of 1945. Everyone in the Annex, save her father, perished as well. Her mother, Edith Frank, from whom Anne felt so estranged and for whom Anne felt such disdain and pity, starved to death after routinely giving her food to her daughters - the futile hope of a mother to deny herself in hopes of a future for her children.

That, too, is the reality of Anne Frank. Many have said Anne is a symbol of all Jewish peoples who suffered so unimaginably during the Nazis' reign of terror. I think it is more important to realize Anne's story is her own and that every one of those six million have their own story, equally compelling. Anne Frank was ordinary in the way of every teenager - balancing immaturity and burgeoning adulthood with the same yearnings and dreams, the same frustrations and impatience. She was extraordinary in her ability to maintain and express her search for self in the most staggering and unthinkable of situations.

Anne and her story, the story of her times - the story of our times today and of times forever ago and forever ahead says that none of us are far removed from our lesser selves or out of reach of our greater selves.....and the consequences, large and small, of both. Throughout her diary Anne Frank said her greatest dream was to be an important and useful writer, to eschew a common life and write that which would live on beyond her life. And so she has. ( )

I read this book after visiting Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. It was very powerful, especially after seeing the home itself. I highly recommend this for a youth audience in particular because it is so down to earth and "real" and yet gets into the horrors of the holocaust-- but on an individual level. We always hear about billions, but just one that you feel close to can be more powerful. I know this diary was heavily edited and I thought I remembered reading recently that some of the omitted excerpts were now available-- I'd love to read it all. I also saw the theater production last year in Ashland Oregon and enjoyed it. ( )

This book is written in diray form about a yound girl who went through the holocust. It talks about her struggles as you hides from the soldiers.

I read this book as a child and still remember the details throughout the book. I think that every student should read this book. I has alot of emotion and a powerful message.

You could use this book when talking about the holocust. You could let the students write a letter to a holocust survior and ask them questions they want answered.

I have read this many years ago but I want to read it again after watching the BBC Series