When We Flew Away

Hoffman's young adult novel of Anne Frank's life in the last couple years of the family's relative freedom in Amsterdam before going into hiding from the Nazi scourge. As usual, Hoffman's writing is wonderfully descriptive, evocative, imaginative. She works symbolism into the story seamlessly, if a little more obviously than might be done in an adult novel, and her characters are alive on the page in a way that makes this particular story almost too hard to read. The author was especially effective at illustrating Anne's fraught relationships with her mother and her older sister, and her growing understanding of the complicated nature of familial love. Interspersed with the fictional narrative are short sections entitled "What We Lost", show more which are factual statements of the incremental thefts of Jewish rights, property and freedoms. Although the fictional account ends as Otto Frank moves his family into the hiding place he has spent so much time arranging, in the hope of keeping them safe until the day when, as he believes, the Americans will come to their rescue, the last of these historical notations leaves no doubt as to the fate of Anne Frank and her family. The author's Afterword describes the effect of reading Anne Frank's diary at age 12 (when a lot of people of my generation would have read it). I confess I wonder at the effect this novel might have on young readers today. Do teenagers still routinely read The Diary of a Young Girl? Do they know the context as those of us who came of age with parents who lived through it did? Hoffman makes a case for the diary being required reading for every child throughout the world..."She was the girl we all are, lovable and exasperating and smart. She was a dreamer and a realist, but more than anything she was a girl who wanted a future. That is something she deserved, and when we remember her, and the fate of her people, we are honoring not only Anne, but all who were lost during the war. Remember us, the diary tells us, in every single line...Remember me." show less

"When We Flew Away" is a beautifully written novel that traces Anne Frank’s life up until the day she and her family went into hiding. Alice Hoffmann, a gifted storyteller, vividly imagines what Anne’s world may have been like, capturing the voice and spirit of a bright, thoughtful young girl on the brink of unthinkable change.

Grounded in deep research and historical detail, the story follows Anne, her sister Margot, and their parents as their lives slowly shrink under the tightening grip of Nazi rule in the Netherlands. Each family member is affected in their own way, and the emotional toll becomes increasingly palpable.

While I found Anne Frank’s actual diary somewhat repetitive, "When We Flew Away" was a compelling and emotional show more read about a young girl with dreams, hopes and aspirations. Hoffmann gave Anne a life and presence that I hadn’t felt in her diary. Even knowing how her story ends, I found myself hoping against hope for a miracle. A moving and memorable novel. show less

First sentence: There is a day you never forget, the day the whole world changes. When you close your eyes, light becomes dark, night never ends, beasts walk freely down the street, stars fall from the sky. You were young one second, and then you were far too old. You lived years in minutes and decades in weeks.

Premise/plot: When We Flew Away is historical fiction. It follows Anne Frank from the age of eleven to thirteen. The novel concludes with the family going into hiding.

My thoughts: I had not--for better or worse--stopped to think deeply about Anne's life BEFORE the diary, before going into hiding, before the Holocaust. I've read biographies, of course, that covered her whole life. This is definitely an imaginative, creative spin show more on Anne Frank. There are a few concrete details that are known but oh-so-much that is not known and can only be speculated. Still I think it is helpful, perhaps, in showing that Anne was a real-life GIRL, a kid, someone with her whole life in front of her. The diary can be SO dramatic and melodramatic--and rightly so in many, many ways. I highly recommend the diary, no question. I DO think that EVERYONE should learn about the Holocaust. I cannot understand how some would "ban" Anne Frank OR other books about the Holocaust from school libraries. I just can't. show less

Normally I don’t read Holocaust fiction b/c there are so many true stories out there, why would I waste my time reading made up stories? But when I saw that the author had worked with the Anne Frank museum and had obviously done their research, I was extremely interested. As a Jew, this story really reaches my heart on a personal level. I read The Diary of a Young Girl as most people did when I was a kid myself, not much younger than Anne, and her story was quite touching. I’ve also read A Friend Called Anne by Jacqueline Van Maarsden, a childhood friend of hers. So I was a bit better equipped than the average reader to see how well the author knew her subject and whether or not she could make this story believable.

Honestly, she show more does a lovely job. You’ll forget that it’s a fiction story and think that you’re actually reading from Anne’s point of view. I especially love that Margot got more attention in this book. It was nice to imagine what she must have been like and this book makes her sound like the lovely, caring big sister you know she tried to be. They were extreme opposite personalities and did not always get along, but I’ve never doubted that they loved each other very much and clung to the hope that they would see the end of the war and grow up into young women.

As we all know, neither of these lovely young girls made it out of the camps, but their memories live on through Anne’s words and those like Alice Hoffman, who try to do them justice. Zichronam L’vracha, may their memory be a blessing.

*I am grateful to have received this book for free in return for my honest opinion.* show less

Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam Alice Hoffman weaves together a lyrical and heart-wrenching story that looks into the way the world changed for Anne Frank and her family before they went into hiding during WWII.

I’ve always been interested in Anne and her family since I first watched one of the movie adaptations as a kid. I didn’t read her diary though until a few years ago. Obviously we don’t 100% know what Anne thought of when living through the months/years leading up to the Frank family going into hiding, but I think Alice Hoffman did a wonderful job at imagining it.

The other thing I wanted to applaud Hoffman on is knowing her audience and how to talk about what show more was happening without being too graphic. I know we want to protect younger children from the horrors of the war - but you also have to think about the fact that children their age went through the war. Not everything needs to be described in detail but kids are smart and still deserve to know. I just remember thinking in certain parts that the writing was handled well.

I also really liked the dynamic between Anne and her mother. In her diaries she wrote about the difference in relationships she had between Pip and her mother and this story dives deeper into that and provides more layers.

Overall, I think this would be a good middle grade introduction into Anne Frank and her story. Have them read this first to open the door for discussion about Anne and her family. Then, more mature, or when they’re older, they can then read Anne Frank’s diary.

*Thank you Scholastic Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review show less

well written historical fiction about anne frank before her family went in to hiding. very specific regarding hitler's plans and co-operation of many europeans and also americans. hoffman uses excellent metaphors and portrays real relationship difficulties. especially important for many of today's children who have not heard of or don't believe in the holocaust and are unaware of its smililarities to current events.

A very good historical fiction novel. I just felt sad throughout since you know how this ends.

"When We Flew Away" is a take on Anne Frank's life before she and her family went into hiding and she started documenting everything that was happening in her diary. The book starts off with Anne celebrating her birthday, but also dealing with the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands.

I did love what Hoffman did here, but it's missing her typical "Hoffmaness"--is that a word-- there's no magical realism to be found here. There also seems to be less lyrical writing in this book, except in a few cases. Those are things that I find myself always seeing in her works. That's not a criticism, just wanted to let readers know who have read her before to show more not go in with different expectations.

You can tell Hoffman did her research on this one, so this is as close I think as a historical fiction book you can get about Anne Frank.

I think with everything happening in the world right now, books like this are very necessary. The audience for this is young adults, but I enjoyed it, even though I am not one. show less