Review Detail

What worked: Poignant glimpse into what might have been Anne Frank's life before the diary. Readers see Anne from age 10 as being curious about the world around her; her close relationship with her grandmother; a complicated relationship with her mother and sister; and a first romantic relationship.

Anne witnesses how the Netherlands are taken over by the Nazis and the things she loved-like skating, going to the ice cream parlor, and going out at night are taken from them. Even a blooming first relationship is cut short by the horrors of war. Through it all, she still has hope that things will get better.

Hoffman also weaves in storytelling and symbolism of the magpie that follows Anne and lives in a tree next to her apartment and the black moths that slowly flutter outside and later are everywhere right before her father hides the family from the Nazis.

Anne's diary showed the world not only the ugliness of the world but also the kindness and even bits of beauty. In this novel, readers see Anne before she and her family are hidden away from the Nazis. This is the young teen who loves things like skating on a pond with her friends, has crushes, fights, and then makes up with her sister, and even questions what's happening around her.

This latest novel on Anne Frank is one that is a must-read. There's a scene where Anne stands before a window and longs for a yellow journal. Her father surprises her with it on her birthday. From that journal, Anne writes down her experiences and hopes—never knowing that her life would go on in her words long after her brutal death at one of the concentration camps.

Haunting story of Anne Franke before she wrote her diary. Highly recommend for classroom libraries. Also perfect for discussions on the Holocaust.