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Jun 25, 2010

I'm not sure how to review a book like this. It is an absolutely brilliant book, but certainly not one I can claim to have enjoyed. Who could enjoy such a story? That being said, I consider it one of the best books I have ever read. It is a moving testimony to bravery, pain, suffering and hope. The Holocaust is not a time in history that we want to remember, but it is a time that we cannot let be forgotten. Books like this serve as a reminder of the lowest of humanity...but also the highest. One More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Megan rated it:

Sharon Dogar's ANNEXED is an interpretive imagining of Peter van Pels, the sixteen-year-old boy whose family hides with the Frank family and Fritz Pfeffer in a secret annex for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. This fictional account covers the years spent in the annex and his final months spent at Auschwitz and Mauthausen.

With its publication date months away, ANNEXED has received criticism from both the press and blogs for adding a fictionalized sexual dimens More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2010

Meredith rated it:

Annexed was a bold undertaking. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is a pretty sacred Holocaust memoir. To explore Peter's point of view in a novel constitutes a huge literary risk. On some levels, it paid off. But, as you'll notice throughout this review, this book raised a lot of questions for me.

The novel introduces Liese, Peter's fictional first girlfriend and a personification of his sexual awakening. He longs for her while trapped in the annex, and the narrative does not shy More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Sep 12, 2010

Abby rated it:

It's 1942 and Europe is at war. For the Jewish van Pels family, this war means almost-certain death and they have no choice but to go into hiding with another family, the Franks. For sixteen-year-old Peter van Pels, sharing a tiny space with seven other people, this means no privacy. It means that he has to sit around instead of going to fight like a man. And it means he has to put up with Anne, a thirteen-year-old chatterbox who's constantly writing about him in her diary. As the years wear on, More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Steph for TeensReadToo.com

We all know about Anne Frank's tale of her family's two-year hiding experience in the attic of an office building in Amsterdam. Frank battles her parents, the cruel Nazi world, and her feelings for a boy who she sees every day in the small hiding place, Peter Van Pels.

But what was Peter's side of the story? How did he feel about being in a small hidden annex with two beautiful - yet sometimes annoying - girls and their parents?

S More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 15, 2011

Caitlin rated it:

I have a teeny tiny confession to make, I've never read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl it's not even that I can't get a hold of one, I have a copy I've just never taken the time to read it. But possibly due to this some things in Annexed didn't make sense to me, like why where the Franks so much better then Peter's Family? I hated the chapter subtitles they basically told you what was going to happen in that section so it was barely worth reading.

But the second section (1st sect More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 12, 2012

Ruth rated it:

Peter van Pels was a sixteen year old boy with his entire life ahead of him. That is until everything was ripped away from him first by the placement of a seemingly simple star on his jacket and then later by the Nazi’s in death camps. His story happens along side the famous Anne Frank, the girl whose story lives on through every reading of her diary. Annexed is not an exact occurrence of what happened to Peter, but a possibility and more than anything an exploration of the feelings he may More...

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Feb 05, 2012

Kayla rated it:

When I first saw this book in the book store, I'll admit, I was pretty excited and purchased it right away without a second thought. I'm one of those people who is interested in learning about this ghastly period in history- its just awful to think of what human beings are really capable of. I've always been interested especially about Peter Van Pels. Don't ask me why, I couldnt tell you. However, though my initial reaction was that of interest when I got home and thought about it I became wary More...

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Jan 20, 2012

Alex rated it:

Annexed is a fictionalized imagining of the content in the diary kept by Anne Frank in hiding, but this time life in the annex is told by Peter van Pels.

And I have to admit I started reading Annexed with a great deal of trepidation. After all, it had caused quite a sensation when it was published. Sharon Dogar was accused exploiting Anne’s diary and of ‘sexualizing’ her. There were many who did not want to see this Anne Frank. But, while the Anne of the diary may be a symbol of co More...

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Dec 30, 2011

Taylor rated it:

I read "Annexed" within a day or two, and then immediately turned back to the first page and read it again. I thought it was incredible. It is raw and powerful and real. In fact, it was so real that I occasionally forgot that it was fiction and not truly written by Peter van Pels. I couldn't put it down; I was completely lost in the story.

There has been some conflict over the novel, but I personally think all of it is silly. Because even if someone were to find something of More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Josie rated it:

I had rather a difficult time deciding what rating to give this book. And I'm terrible at rating things, anyway, so... I did quite like this book. And I'm no prude about sex, okay? Not at all. The sexual scenes, Peter masturbating, having nocturnal emissions, thinking about sex, all perfectly natural. It's not unlikely that these things did happen. Adversity or not, he was a pubescent boy. But my point is that the sexualization of his and Anne's relationship cheapened it. It felt irreverent to m More...

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Sep 23, 2011

Allie rated it:

Finally! I can write a good review about something I read recently! I was beginning to think that I had already read everything good in my high school library. I loved Anne Frank's diary, so obviously I had to pick this one up. I love the new viewpoint and how honest this character was. Peter was a hormonal teenage boy. It seems like people seem to overlook that in male characters at times, unless they want to portray them as players or cassanovas.
The plot followed Anne Frank's obviously, More...

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Jul 05, 2011

Kyle rated it:

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

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Jun 13, 2011

Kate rated it:

Annexed takes the beloved historical tale of Anna Frank and gives it a fresh new perspective. Entering into the tale, I knew that by the end this novel it would either blow me away or leave me with a (possibly) bad taste in my mouth. Thankfully, for all us Anne Frank fans out there, the first occurred much more than the latter.

Dogar takes her time introducing readers to the setting, characters, and the whole emotional world that encompasses Annexed. It is like taking a step back in t More...

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May 16, 2011

Angela rated it:

I read this book because my friend thought it was pretty good for those who love reading Anne Frank's diary. I loved Anne's diary. But this book could not match up the story at all. I know that the author did not have Anne's experience, after all she's not Peter. The experience would have let her write with the heart and soul Anne had. Sadly, the author could not capture the charm. This book was not at all like Peter. The Peter from the plays and diary was not like the Peter of this book. In the More...

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Mar 01, 2011

Aaron rated it:

With this novel, Dogar has done a nice job of presenting the events of A Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank from the perspective of one of the other residents in the annex in which she and nine Jews hid away in Amsterdam. Pater van Pels, a 15-year-old who shares the annex with the four Franks, his two parents, and doctor.

Many are familiar with Anne Frank and the events in the book because of reading her diary in school. Peter's voice not only allows the reader to experience what it might have More...

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Feb 20, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

I love Anne Frank and I've read her diary twice now but not since two years ago and also done a very long school project on her life. So, the premise of Annexed really interested me since I've always wondered what Peter may have felt during the time in the annexe and his feelings towards Anne.

Sharon Dogar has kept everything just as described in Anne's diary but explored Peter's feelings sensitively. Through her writing we are let into Peter's intimate thoughts and feelings that we h More...

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Feb 17, 2011

Cynthia rated it:

The first word that comes to mind is "Intense".. . .

The book is broken into two parts: the first one is from the Annex and the second is from the Camps.
Section one is guided from Anne's diary, and the section two is written from other holocaust survivors accounts.
BOTH...are written from very true accounts, and tell the tale of horrible events happening to good, ordinary people.

This book hits you with strong emotion; it fills you with the same lon More...

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Feb 11, 2011

Jaclyn rated it:

Emotionally wrenching story based on "The Diary of Anne Frank" but taken from the Peter, the teen boy's point of view that was also in hiding. I found Dogar's writing to be very powerful and showed proof she certainly did her homework while writing this book. It is definetely a mature teen book as some thoughts on sexuality are shared, but nothing is inappropriate. It is just part of the adolescent journey the reader is on with an Peter as he ponders many questions common to young adu More...

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Feb 02, 2011

Linda rated it:

The Diary of Anne Frank is a literary classic about a young Jewish girl's dreams and thoughts and fears during the two years she spent hiding in an office annex during the Holocaust. Annexed is the imagined story of life in the annex told from Peter's point of view.

Dogar used Anne Frank's diary to bring realism to the story and did extensive research on the Holocaust. As a stand-out young adult author, she is able to describe the thoughts and feelings of a teenage boy and what it m More...

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Jan 29, 2011

Beth rated it:

I liked this book but at times, it was disturbing. It is based on Anne Frank's diary but written from Peter's perspective. It is obviously fiction but she tried to make it true to the story. Sometimes, it seemed "irreverent"? It's always a fine line to recreate a person who actually existed and try to know what he was thinking. As a lot of the time (in the book), he was thinking of sex, I just kept wondering if he would be offended or even maybe embarrassed to have had a book writ More...

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Jan 25, 2011

Rhiannon rated it:

Whether you've read it or not, most everyone knows the story of Anne Frank and her diary. A story of such un-surpassable sadness and joy at the same time, Anne's diary has taught people the world over to appreciate their life on this earth in a more tangible way than they might otherwise have done.

Taking that into consideration, Sharon Dogar has done a very brave thing, she's written a fictional telling from one of the other annex occupants perspective- Peter. Such a daring move I' More...

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Jan 20, 2011

Brenda rated it:

When I first started reading Annexed, I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, I had read The Diary of Ann Frank as a teen and wasn't sure how much of the story I actually remembered, but "Annexed" transported me back to Ann Frank, giving me a whole new perspective on life in the Annex, because we hear the story from the voice of Peter Van Pel, a young man just about to turn 16, who was hesitant about hiding out with the Franks, actually not really liking either of the Frank daughters More...

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Jan 18, 2011

Jan rated it:

Annexed is the story of Anne Frank, as told from the point of view of Peter Van Pels, in first person narration. The novel is divided into two parts: the first part takes place in the Annex, the hiding place for the Frank and Van Pels families and the second part takes place in the concentration camps where the families have been sent after being discovered by the Nazis.

It is fascinating to get a different perspective on one of the most famous teens in history—Anne Frank. Millio More...

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Jan 15, 2011

Christin rated it:

Like many reviewers (middle/high school teachers) I began this book with a great deal of apprehension and "here, we go another sequel" attitude. I was wrong. In a rare, but beautiful case of books that are considered companions to great works of art, "Annexed" has blown me out of the water. Doger has taken the grace, depth, and emotional turmoil of Anne Frank and placed it into the young man of Peter van Pels. His perspective on the entire war, the Jewish people, and his year More...

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Jan 12, 2011

Cornmaven rated it:

This makes for a wonderful pair to the Diary of Anne Frank, with its weaving of elements of that diary into Peter Van Pels' story. What I really liked was the contrast between life hidden in the annex, and life, if you can call it that, in the concentration camp. Very well done in that regard. I also felt it raised an excellent discussion question for teens - the paradox of being persecuted for being Jewish and the insistence on being special, which can cause all kinds of resentment in societ More...

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Jan 07, 2011

Sharon rated it:

An interesting and well-realized idea, to tell the story of Anne Frank from the point of view of Peter Van Pels who lived in the attic with her. In the author's note, Dogar discusses how she did a lot of research to capture the feel of the annex and that really permeates the page. Through many details about enclosed spaces like stretching out your arm to touch a closet in the wall, to the more poetic pieces like watching the leaves of a chestnut tree change through a window, the author truly cap More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Livia rated it:

I could feel the sense of fear, angst and ennui in this tale of the Annex told from Peter's perspective. The voice was authentic and the writing captured the sense of both the extraordinary and mundane reality these people were living. I am sure any teen would be resentful of having to be in a near windowless hidden apartment with irritating housemates for very long. Peter was in a situation that most of us cannot even grasp in our gadget filled lives of relative ease. In his world, he was a More...

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Dec 21, 2010

Julie rated it:

(Advance Reader Copy borrowed via NetGalley.com)

As a person who often has a problem with fictionalized history - completely fictional stories created around the framework of actual people or events - I was not sure how I would react to Sharon Dogar's ambitious undertaking. During the first half of the book, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the intimacy of the thoughts Dogar created for Peter van Pels, even though I considered them to be perfectly possible or reasonable thoughts for a More...

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Dec 17, 2010

Between the Covers rated it:

Chilling. That's the first word that comes to mind when I think about this book. Haunting, depressing, powerful...chilling.

Most people know the story of Anne Frank, but Annexed tells the story of Peter van Pels, the boy whose family also hid in the Annex. The story seamlessly switches between diary entries from days in the Annex (later days in the concentration camps) and Peter's thoughts from the sick bay in Mauthausen.

Every book about the Holocaust, both memoirs and fiction More...

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