Sharon Dogar

Dogar turns the famous story of Anne Frank and her diary on its head, now telling it from the point of Peter Van Pels, the teenage boy whose family hid with the Franks in Amsterdam for two years during the Holocaust. In the annex, Peter is miserable; there's no privacy, no space. The questions of every teenage boy-- "Will I ever make love to a girl?" "Who will I be as a man?"-- are amplified by their conditions, and Peter and Anne slowly seek each other out in their attempts to answer them show more together. The story is framed by Peter's thoughts as he lies dying in a concentration camp, reflecting back on his life and the events of the past two years. Readers who have read Anne's diary will recognize some scenes (and be delighted to hear things from Peter's side), but it is not a prerequisite to enjoy Annexed. This is a work of fiction, and Dogar is very clear to separate fact from fiction in notes to the reader and an epilogue depicting the fate of each character. Strongly recommended for grades 9-12. show less

Narrated and performed by cast. This audio version of the fictionalized story of Peter Van Pels dramatically expresses and prolongs his enduring melancholy in a way that probably doesn't come out the same in print. There were times while listening that the sadness was just so acute and depressing, my god. At first I wasn't too keen on the actor voicing Peter; he sounded like an old man and Peter is supposed to be 16. But I think it was because Peter was looking back on the time in the annex show more while he lay in sick bay in the concentration camp. This recreation of a teenage boy's experience in hiding adds thoughtful heft to the Anne Frank genre. show less

After finishing Anne Frank's diary, I was stunk in a Frank funk, so I immediately reached for ANNEXED. Right from the beginning, I was a little off-put by the relationship between Peter and his mother. After all, hadn't he said they didn't get along well in Anne's diary? I liked the relationship between Peter and his parents, for sure, but I felt like the author missed out on a golden opportunity. A famous quote that came from Otto Frank after reading Anne's diary was "Most parents don't show more really know their children." And since this is a YA novel, it would've been a great chance to expand on that idea and show how Peter's parents, though their relationship with their son was good, they didn't know all of him. It felt kind of one-dimensional at times because we didn't see much or any conflict between Peter and his parents.

Expanding on that, I think part one in the Annex was really lacking. This is historical fiction. You get to dip your fingers into the past and expand. Where was the development between the others in the attic? What about all the fights Anne talks about, the discussions, the grievances with each other? These people were trapped together for two years! There was tension between them! Anne mentions things briefly (like the arguments), and I'm really disappointed that the author didn't expand on them, show what got on each other's nerves! The entire first part of the book consisted of Peter moping around (and do you really think that wouldn't get old after two years, trapped inside or not? The people in the Annex kept busy!) and even when Anne enters his life, there was no real spark or excitement. Yes, Anne and Peter's romance wasn't of the ages, but the feelings could've been touched on, explore more of why they are clinging to each other, and it could've been much more poignant.

A scene near the beginning of the book, when they are in the attic and Peter shouts, I found absolutely ridiculous. I could handle it when he whistled. I could deal with him shouting. But when his father shouted back, and then they all go after Peter and he's "screaming"? I know it was meant to be a representation of his emotions and the feelings of entrapment, but come on, these people were in hiding. Like I said, I could understand the shout, but when his father shouted back? You really think the adults would be so stupid as to add to any noise?

The end was very nicely done. I enjoyed the camps and the way it was presented. I felt like the "light touch" writing style that the author had really worked well here. The ending really brought it up for me, but ultimately I was disappointed. ANNEXED could have pushed the boundaries a bit more, got into the details a bit more, and explored the Annex enough to bring it alive. show less

"Will we be imaginary one day? Will we be just like one of Anne's stories? Or worse, will the story that survives be the Nazi one - that we were only ever good enough to be wiped out. How? How could anybody do this?"

I didn't know quite what to expect from this novel. The Diary of a Young Girl is one of my favourite books of all time, so the idea of a novelisation of the same events was simultaneously exciting and just a little bit worrying. Happily - and to my great relief - I found that for show more the most part, Dogar's endeavour manages to walk the fine line between 'respectful tribute' and 'artistic license' quite successfully!

The book is written from the point of view of Peter van Pels, the teenage son of the family in hiding with the Franks. It begins with Peter watching his (entirely fictional) girlfriend Liese and her family being rounded up and driven away. He can only stand in the road in despair. He makes his way reluctantly to the warehouse to join the Frank family - and his first impressions don't exactly fill him with joy... But slowly he adapts to life in the annexe, finds a new strength he didn't know he had, and begins an odd flirtation with livewire Anne.

This romantic element seems to be the main issue for many of the novel's detractors, but actually I found it quite subtle and entirely plausible. In such a confined space, with hormones raging and very little to engage their attention elsewhere, I found it completely believable that precocious young Anne could set her sights on Peter - and that he might feel extremely conflicted about it, but also tempted by her quick wit and cheerful charm. I occasionally found Peter's narrative a little self-conscious and slow, even manipulative at times, and it didn't have all the little details about daily life that made Anne's journal really come alive, but I still enjoyed it! I thought Dogar's depiction of the various characters living in the annexe was spot-on, and she captured the experience of a frustrated teenage boy rather well.

Unlike Anne's iconic diary, which obviously ended just before the annexe's occupants were found and taken away, Dogar extends her novel right through to Auschwitz and beyond - and this is where I thought she really excelled. Peter's whole narrative is precipitated by his flood of memories as he lies in the sick bay at Mauthausen, deliriously waiting for the call to wake up and start another day in hell. Between chapters there are occasional interjections from the dying boy to remind the reader that this is not going to end well. After they are captured Peter describes the horrendous train journey out of Amsterdam, the separation from his mother and the Frank women, how he learned to survive in the camps, and how he lost his father to the gas chambers. I could barely read the last twenty pages or so, I was crying so hard.

At the end of the day, it may be uncomfortable reading but I don't think we can ever remind ourselves too often of the evil that humanity has perpetuated in the past, especially when hatred and ignorance are still used as excuses to inflict pain on minority groups today. It really is well worth a read, whether you're already familiar with The Diary of a Young Girl or not, and I think it would make fantastic supplementary material for a high school project, for example. Dogar includes a brief epilogue at the end of the book explaining where and how each of the characters died, as well as a short bibliography which includes seminal works of Holocaust literature like Primo Levi's If This is a Man and Elie Wiesel's Night. Recommended. show less