Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

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

This is a book everyone knows about, and most everyone has read. It is a collection of diaries kept by a Jewish girl during her time in hiding. The edition I read had even more then the original published edition. In the original Anne's dad kept out some of the entries as Anne wrote some unkind things about her mom and discussed subjects one didn't talk about back then. This edition has all of the entries as well as the notes Anne made when she heard someone wanted journals after the war, written by those suffering as a result of the war.

Getting a first hand account of what those living in hiding went through made me better understand their day to day trails. It wasn't just living in constant terror of someone finding them. They had to learn how to function. How to somehow carry on with life. Hitler and the Nazis were trying to wipe them from the face of the earth, so what did they do? They hid in back rooms, cellars, attics, and who knows were else. Then they went on living, even though they were told they weren't worth it. 

Anne and her family celebrated holidays, birthdays. They proved the world wrong. And had the same struggles as everyone else. Struggles of getting enough to eat, of needing new clothes. Only they had all the other worries on top. Fear of doing things as simple as coughing when they had colds.

While I liked getting a look into the lives of the Franks and their friends it also made me sad. Knowing what happened to most of them at the end. Also, I am not sure what I think of Anne personally. To me she sounded like what one might call a typical teen. She seemed to think her mom hated her, which is an impression a lot her age seem to get. I don't know how much was real and how much was just her emotions all out of whack. Also she had HUGE mood swings.

Still, I can see why almost everyone I know has read this book. I think it should be read, it gives an insight we wouldn't have otherwise. I would advice this edition for older readers though. Because it has all of her entries there is a lot of mention of sexual issues which might not be appropriate for younger readers.