Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl

by Anne Frank

book data

183,797 ratings, 4.05 average rating, 4,014 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		40%
4		32%
3		20%
2		5%
1		1%

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published

December 1982 by Pocket Books (first published 1947)

details

Mass Market Paperback

characters

Anne Frank, Otto Frank, Mrs. Van Daan …more

setting

Amersterdam, 1942 (Netherlands)

literary awards

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults (1996)

isbn

0671617605 (isbn13: 9780671617608)

description

Anne Frank's diaries have always been among the most moving and eloquent documents of the Holocaust. This new edition restores diary entries omitted …more

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Jan 19, 2008

Brenda rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

I confess to feeling slightly voyeuristic while reading this. It was constantly in the back of my mind that this was no ordinary novel, or even a true-to-life account. This was someone’s diary. Every page written in confidence, each word revealing the thoughts closest to the heart of this young girl. As a journal-keeper myself, I sometimes find myself wondering, “What if someone else were to read this?” which causes me to wonder how much to filter my words. But then, isn’t the purpose of...more I confess to feeling slightly voyeuristic while reading this. It was constantly in the back of my mind that this was no ordinary novel, or even a true-to-life account. This was someone’s diary. Every page written in confidence, each word revealing the thoughts closest to the heart of this young girl. As a journal-keeper myself, I sometimes find myself wondering, “What if someone else were to read this?” which causes me to wonder how much to filter my words. But then, isn’t the purpose of a diary or journal just the opposite? To record one’s honest and unfiltered thoughts? While reading Anne Frank – The Diary of a Young Girl I do not get the sense that there is any such ‘filtering’ going on. From the ages of 12-15 Anne lived an extraordinary life, and quickly grew far beyond her years in her understanding and handling of a horrendous situation.

There are surprises in this book. No matter how broad or limited your understanding of the world events that threw Anne and her family into a life in hiding, I had – before reading this – held the general assumption that, “Well, it was wartime. They were in hiding for their lives. They must have been miserable all the time. Who could possibly find anything good or redeeming in the confines of such a life?” In hindsight, of course, I have had to reconsider. I found bits of beauty, kindness, and even humour popping up in the most unexpected places. And why shouldn’t I? Aren’t our lives much the same? Oh – we’re not dodging bombs and trying to sleep to the sound of gunfire (at least not in Canada). But we, each of us, are often faced with some sort of tragedy or travesty. Sometimes we may have an entire ‘bad year’, or longer. And yet, doesn’t the buoyancy of the human spirit always shine through? It is really tough work to be miserable 24 hours a day. No matter how difficult or challenged our day-to-day life, we all have those little pockets of joy that arise, and sometimes it is those tiny occurrences that make the rest of it bearable.

On a personal level, I found myself comparing Anne’s childhood to that of my parents. After all, she was only a year younger than my Mom and Dad. I think back to stories they’ve told from their teen years, and it boggles the mind to think that at the exact moment my Dad and his brothers were tipping a cow, Anne was in hiding on the other side of the world. At a time when my mother was discovering make-up, Anne was realizing that life would never again be so youthful, so joyous and carefree as before the war. A generation was losing its innocence, but in very different ways.

I would recommend Anne Frank – The Diary of a Young Girl to absolutely everyone, for I believe that it holds some truth or enlightenment for everyone. I do not own this copy – it was borrowed from my daughter’s school library. She will be reading it next. She is 10. And you can bet that before long I will purchase my own copy, for I will be reading it again someday soon.
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Like this review? yes (29 people liked it)

1 comment

Jul 21, 2008

Rusty Shackleford rated it:

(review of isbn 0140385622)

bookshelves: dutch, jewish, worst-books

Read in July, 2008

Anyone who has rated this more than one star, probably didn`t read the full version (307) pages. It was so tedious, barely about the war itself, which supposed to make this book special.

I just read it, to assume it is fake or not. I`m not sure yet, but I assume it is real , nobody would be bothered to write such tedious babbling. This book doesn`t proof anything about the socalled horrors of the nationalsocialist regime, Anne Frank died of Typhus and none of the jews in this book w...more

Like this review? yes (20 people liked it)

18 comments

Sep 03, 2007

HRH rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in August, 2007

recommends it for: Thinkers

I first read this book in the eighth grade. Our junior high school simultaneously did a preformance of the play. I remember that I enjoyed both the book and the play. I think I liked the love story aspect most of all -- what 13 year-old wouldn't? But I don't think I really "got" the book.
For her 13th birthday the German-born Anne Frank received a diary which she named Kitty. About a month after her birthday, her older sister, Margot, at the time just 16 years old, was "calle...more I first read this book in the eighth grade. Our junior high school simultaneously did a preformance of the play. I remember that I enjoyed both the book and the play. I think I liked the love story aspect most of all -- what 13 year-old wouldn't? But I don't think I really "got" the book.
For her 13th birthday the German-born Anne Frank received a diary which she named Kitty. About a month after her birthday, her older sister, Margot, at the time just 16 years old, was "called up." For some time Otto Frank, Anne's father, had been preparing a hiding place for his family in a part of his business warehouse. With Margot's letter, the family left within 24 hours, strewing everything about and leaving a note with an address in Maastrich (hometown of musician Andre Reiu) to throw off officials. The family -- Anne's parents and her sister -- shared the secret hiding place with family friends and business partners, the Van Daan's, as Anne calls them though their real name was Van Pels, and the couple's 16 year-old son Peter. A couple months later a dentist, Mr. Dussel (really Pfeffer), joined the group and actually shared a room with Anne. Anne writes of the 25 months in hiding before being discovered in August 1944. Anne Frank died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen in early 1945, just months before the camp's liberation.
Anne is an incredible writer. She uses conversation to describe anecdotes, involving body positions, voice tone, etc. just like a novel. She is also intensely thoughtful. She had insight and wisdom beyond her years. Check out this excerpt written only three weeks before the families were betrayed.

"It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.
It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more"
- July 15, 1944

I think she may have gone to her diary most often when she was depressed (there are several very mournful entries) and a few times when she was overjoyed (as in when she got her first kiss). She flutuates often between opinions -- I hate my mother, I love my mother and I am hopeful, I am hopeless. I can relate to her changeability. She tells hilarious stories describing the events and worries of the secret annex -- especially entertaining is Mrs. Van Daan. Anne's attention to detail is so helpful in understanding the position of those in hiding. It makes me want to do better in keeping my own personal history. Each character is described so well and maintains his or her character, in a way type-cast in specific way. It would be interesting to hear how those 25 months passed from everyone else's perspective.

This book is so well written it is crazy and it is simultaneously entertaining and wise.(less)

Like this review? yes (10 people liked it)

1 comment

Feb 17, 2008

Monica Edinger rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

bookshelves: classic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (12 people liked it)

4 comments

Jun 28, 2007

Montambo rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

bookshelves: bio-memoir-diary, this-shit-is-messed-up

There was a page in this book that was scandalous, and in 7th grade we all had the page # memorized. We'd be round-robin-reading it in Mr. Smith's class and periodically flip to that page.

It wasn't till I read it on my own in 10th grade that I really loved it. I had always kept a diary, and though it bothered me that she called hers 'kitty,' I felt priveleged to be in her world. My diary had been broken into many times, and I wondered if the others in that attic peeked into it--...more

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

4 comments

Jun 30, 2008

David rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

While her story is sad, the naked Emperor cult around this book is unmerited.

The key quotation about people being basically good at heart is absurd in the light of the story, and from a theological perspective, just plain wrong.

Like this review? yes (8 people liked it)

10 comments

Jan 19, 2009

Mr. Zeiler rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

bookshelves: a--classroom--library, biography--autobiography--memoirs, historical-fiction--war, holocaust

Read in May, 2008

If only every teenager would read and embrace this story, I wonder if it would change the instant-gratification, me-me-me society that has evolved over the last 50 years? Of course, this novel is a staple in any Holocaust lesson planning. In a world in which so few teenagers (or adults, for that matter) seem to stop and give thanks for what they have (instead chirping about what they want or complaining about what they don't have), Anne Frank faced the most unfair of cruelties with a certain str...more

Like this review? yes (7 people liked it)

1 comment

Aug 08, 2008

Brian Davis rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: anyone

I went to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. which left me overwhelmed and sick, like I had just finished a terrible bout with the flu or something. In the museum, a lot of the exhibits depict what Jewish life was like before the war (mainly in Lithuania, where a lot of photos and testimonials were recovered). I thought of Anne Frank immediately, and the fact that I'd never read her diary. It was a good follow up to the museum, being a very personal story as well as a clear, well-articul...more

Like this review? yes (5 people liked it)

1 comment

Aug 18, 2007

Jodi Lu rated it:

(review of isbn 0553577123)

Read in January, 1990

come ON, how can anyone give ANNE FRANK a rating other than "it was amazing"??? some of these reviews cracked me up. it's certainly not my favorite book, but i definitely won't say it's a pity vote either. although i'll say this: i was recently at her house and was SHOCKED that it's HUGE. i mean, the diary makes it sound like they're living in a matchbox when even the hideaway part is two stories and far bigger than anywhere i've ever lived--FRANKly (HA!) i don't know how it took a...more

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

3 comments

Jun 18, 2008

Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

From my spring/summer, indelibly written in my consciousness, of Life In DC, Walking to the Metro Listening to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. So Neutral Milk Hotel got me to read it. The shocking part is how normal and boring the diary is ... until it ends. And it does just that. Writing a diary myself, it horrifies me that one day I will have an entry that will be my last. Of course the cataclysm happens in the last three pages where everything goes to literal hell and you just finish the ...more

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Apr 05, 2009

Whitney rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

bookshelves: 2008

Read in February, 2008

Discovered in the secret annex in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic -- a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "...more

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Dec 03, 2008

Kara rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in November, 2008

recommended to Kara by: no one, i had to read it for a school assignment
recommends it for: people who like depressing or boring books

This book was awful! I hated it and thats all i have to say about it.

Like this review? yes (11 people liked it)

8 comments

May 10, 2008

Rosie rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

recommended to Rosie by: people who like history and a good diary

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most well known books in the world. At the beginning of this book, Anne Frank and her family go to hide out in a secret annex to avoid being taken to the concentration camps by the Nazis. Throughout this diary Anne documents her most treasured and horrible moments and feelings while hiding out in the annex. The Van Daans , a very peculiar family, is also hiding out with the Franks. Peter Van Daan is a character that Anne writes many diary entrys about. Throu...more

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Jan 30, 2008

Nikki rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

bookshelves: ya

Read in July, 2008

When I read The Diary of Anne Frank for the first time, I identified with her at every turn. I felt her emotions, I understood the plight she had with her mother. Funny how this time around (decades later) I identify more with her mother. As children we expect our parents to be perfect. As parents we keep the secret that we are still children, just older.

'Friday 20 November, 1942

None of us really knows how to take it all. The news about the Jews had not really penetra...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

3 comments

Jun 28, 2007

furies rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

bookshelves: history-memory, holocaust, non-fiction, wwii, young-adult

Read in January, 1995

you know, i find i don't know what to say about this book. obviously, it's a seminal text. obviously, it has impacted a great many lives, and it tells a story that is incredible. however, what i think you take from it is this sense of optimism in the face of despair - and the truth is, it's the story of a girl in hiding who gets betrayed by an informant, and then dies in a camp. we so often gloss over the fact that she died - and say, "oh, but anne lives on through her diary" - which i...more

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

1 comment

Feb 20, 2008

Abdullah rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in June, 2008

Anne Frank is a 13 year-old girl. She and her family, in addition to four of their friends, were hiding in their "Secret Annex" in the period of World War II.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I feel like I haven't read a good book for a long time. Also, I LOVE books which are written in a "diary format".

I didn't like the way she treated her mother. She ,obviously through her writings, hated her and didn't feel comfortable when they're together!
...more

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6 comments

Nov 24, 2008

Alia rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Alia by: Elle

When I was in Amsterdam last April I went to see the attic space that Anne Frank's family lived in, and became interested in reading her diary again. I read it when I was in grade school, and our tour guide Stephen told us that recently an un-edited version had been released. This version included many negative descriptions of her parents and other house-mates as well as entries dealing with her sexuality. After all, this is the diary of an adolescent girl but I was amazed with how outspo...more

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May 04, 2008

Manish rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: People who like to read about history

My reasons for not liking the book. I know many people feel that this is more like a life altering book for them. But that's truly not the same in my case.

1. The book is more like hardcore history which has never been my choice of subject

2. I personally did find the book rather dry as it's major gossip written by a girl whose family is in hiding during World War II

3. I'm 22 and I guess I've grown over a book like this

Although i do agree, some...more

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Nov 14, 2009

Melani rated it:

(review of isbn 8170262607)

There were parts of this book that I found really disturbing, if only because it recalled to my mind very vividly what it was like to be a teenager. The discomfort of it, especially. The mortification of feeling totally misunderstood. The embarassment of looking back and seeing how cocky that you were. It is amazing that the writings of a child so bursting with vitality and growing so rapidly would have been penned and polished inside a pratical prison.

Then there is the very la...more

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Mar 09, 2008

Eric Novak rated it:

(review of isbn 0553296981)

Read in November, 2007

Anne Frank is a diary - One that I didn't enjoy. The time period is great, everything should set up for a good story, but Anne flunks out. Her book seems to have chapters of dialog between people that we don't even know - People she hasn't introduced properly.

Some people may gain insight into WWII life, but for me it was just a jumbled mess.

~Eric

Like this review? yes (6 people liked it)

5 comments