Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

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Summary: The holocaust means more than what is learned in school
Review: I don't want to make this review purely academic, as the book has had a very stong emotional impact on my life... On June 12, 1942, Anne M. Frank received a diary in which she would record her innermost feelings and opinions concerning the everyday struggles that plagued the eight inhabitants of what she referred to as, "the Secret Annex." Throughout the twenty-five month period in which she lived above her Father's former office in seclusion, the evolution of her character, in both emotional and physical respects, is rather evident. The diary begins with an entry that illustrates a young girl's desire to form an intimate relationship in which she could freely confide in her partner. Thus in the absence of such a partner she entrusted her confidence to "Kitty," to whom most entries in the diary are addressed. Throughout the first year of life in the annex, this quest is to no avail as she is extremely critical of all people around her, including her own family members and, on many occasions, herself. Living in such close proximity, the residents of the Secret Annex frequently disagree over trivial matters. Although petty quarrels were commonplace among the residents, the remarkable fact that emerged from Anne's diary is not that conflict arises, but that eight individuals can endure constant fear and total confinement with grace and dignity. Finding little solace in her relationships with family members, her prayers to take part in a relationship in which confidence could be equally shared were answered when a strong bond with seventeen-year old Peter Van Pels is formed. It is this relationship that brings her into a world in which, for the first time, she could entrust her most intimate feelings to someone other than "Kitty." I was rather surprised to see another reviewer comment that the "diary ends rather abruptly on August first." As an adolescent myself, it was this entry that had the greatest impact on my life, as its contents accurately describe how I, and many others my age deal with our most intimate feelings. Anne once wrote, "At the age of fourteen and with so little experience, you can't write about philosophy." Ironically, over the course of two years a diary was written that is regarded by millions of people around the as their personal guide to life.

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Summary: Other "Young Girls" Can Relate!
Review: When I was in 8th grade, this book was required reading. I remember quite clearly all the moaning and groaning about "another stupid book" that "no one wants to read," and I just knew it was going to be boring. For one thing, there was NO way any of US would be able to relate to someone like Anne Frank, who lived way back in the 1940's (and in an attic, no less). And anyway, didn't we already have Social Studies class? We knew about the Holocaust! Nazis, bad. Jews, persecuted. Etc., etc. Just more history.

We were in for a serious surprise.

There were many things in Anne Frank's diary that might as well have been (and, in some cases, surely were) in OUR diaries. Her writing style is a bit different, but her thoughts come through loud and clear, and I would be surprised if any girl (and perhaps any boy?) can read the book and not find something that "speaks" to her, personally. Anne worries about her appearance and wonders whether she'll fall in love; she both loves and fights with her parents; and she wouldn't mind in the least if her Algebra book happened to somehow disappear.

We did read a number of books about the Holocaust and its effects while I was in grade school and high school, but Anne Frank's diary stands out in my mind because it helped me to understand what was going on from the point of view of a person I could understand. I couldn't really see myself in the positions of many of the people about whom (or by whom) so many Holocaust-related books are written, but I could see myself in Anne Frank. Of interest to me (and hopefully to others!) is the fact that after reading this book, my view of the Holocaust (and, for that matter, other historical and contemporary events from which I had thought myself "removed" and toward which I was consequently rather indifferent) changed drastically; all those people were REAL people, and their suffering was REAL suffering. They could have been me, my family, my friends, but for a few random details like age or national origin.

I recommend this book for EVERYONE; however, I especially recommend it to young girls, who just might be surprised to find how easy it is to relate to Anne, and how impossible it will be NOT to see the world with new (and, to my mind, improved) vision.

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Summary: Well-written and deeply moving
Review: Before I read Anne Frank's famous diary of her experiences in 1942-1944 as a Jewish teenager hiding in Amsterdam, I wondered if it was so well-known because it was well-written, or because it served as a compelling historical document of a difficult time and place. After reading it I can say that, for me at least, it is both.

Anne's story has so many elements. It is largely the story of herself, a developing, maturing teenager, and the people she interacts with on a daily basis. But as the Nazis take over and she is forced to go into hiding with her family, there is a sharp feeling of change. It is still her story, a very personal story. And yet, permeating her story at every point is this sense of something very dangerous all around, constantly threatening to encroach. We already know most or all of what the Nazis did as they occupied much of Europe, but Anne's diary is a historical document in the sense that it provides a unique, deeply personal perspective on how that time effected a very few people. Some people wil say that history is mainly told in the big events, but I disagree. History means little if we can't see how it effects even the most unlikely, otherwise unknown people. In reading Anne's diary, I could see history's effect on the individual more clearly than ever before.

And yet her writing itself is quite good as well. It's fairly good when the diary begins, with her at age 13. It is even better when it ends, shortly after she turns 15. She had a talent for description and an eye for detail that is rare in any writer, and she was very honest in her feelings, opinions, and experiences. We get her impressions of the Germans and the occupation, of course, but we also get the stories of her squabbles with her family and with the other members of the "Secret Annex." We get the stories of arrests and raids, but also the story of Anne's impending menstruation and developing sense of sexuality. We hear about food shortages, but also about what she learned during her stay in the Annex, academically and otherwise.

In the end, reading Anne's diary feels wrong in a way, because it is the very personal thoughts of a young girl who is struggling to express herself, and confiding in a receiver who was never meant to be a real person. And yet, now millions have read her thoughts. It is -- I can't stress this enough -- a story of a maturing teenager. In a sense, it could be the story of my babysitter, or even eventually of my own daughters a few years down the road. However, it is also a story told under circumstances that would make most teenagers (and adults) cower in fear. The fact that Anne had the presence of mind and the strength and the courage to write down this document makes this one of the most important diaries ever written.

I won't soon forget it.

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Summary: SOUL ON PAPER
Review: When a Supreme Court justice was asked why humanity would be worth saving, he replied "I have read Anne Frank's Diary."

What makes the Diary, next to the Bible, the best selling non-fiction book of all time has something to do with Anne's perceptive, wise, candid, lovable presence tangibly radiating from the pages. And the mysterious fact that it survived at all written by a young teen under life threatening conditions.

Mrs. Van Maarsen, mother of "Jopie" (Jacqueline Van Maarsen, author of My Friend Anne Frank)--Anne's friend whom she wrote to and about in the Diary, was quoted "Anne is not lost to us. Jopie admits I'm right." (Anne Frank: A Portrait In Courage, 1958). This quote described an otherworldly encounter Mrs. Van Maarsen stated that she'd had with Anne's spirit after her death. Regardless of whether Anne Frank is affecting people from some other dimension of reality, the intimate impact of the Diary remains. Touched by the "still small voice" of Anne Frank, receptive souls are forever altered and the heart of humanity uniquely softened.

written on June 12, A.F.'s birthday

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Summary: Anne Frank: The Diary of a young girl
Review: How would you feel if you were cooped up for years inside with you only true companion- your diary? Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is the true story of a young Jewish girl hiding away for years from the Nazis. Her experience was filled with, fright, annoyance, hardships, romance and the feeling inside that she might never be free again.
In this book Anne Frank, the author, used very vivid language and vocabulary. She painted a picture in your mind of what was happening. For example when she described the "Secret Annex", which was were they hid, you knew exactly what it looked like. Anne builded suspense by leaving you in wonder and picking up on the next entry making you want to read on and on and on. It is very hard to believe a young girl wrote it!
The book is an excellent reminder of what the Jews went true during World War II. Anne Frank is one of the many voices that still remain to us out of the thousands that were silenced.
Anne Frank is a very touching and remarkable book that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

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Summary: Five stars!
Review: The Diary of Anne Frank is a riveting erotic masterpiece about a young Jewish girl exploring her budding sexuality in a cramped basement with her family nearby. You'll be on the edge of your seat as the voluptuous, dark-haired Anne ripens into a succulent peach, ready for the picking. You'll never be able to put this read down until you've finished!

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Summary: Inspiration
Review: I cannot get my hands off Anne Frank`s diary. It only took me two weeks and a half to finish reading this book when i was 14. This book showed the sorrow of a 14 year old girl as she and her family hides from the jews. Her thoughts and insights about her suroundings captured my mind because of how she expressed her reactions and feelings on each and everyday fears she lived during the Holocaust. You can personally feel her agony as you go through her book. What really stunned me is her possitive attitude towards her struggle. I read the book during my spare time and it would always keep me thinking after I read through her terrible circumstances. I was amazed on how a young girl at her early age can be so inspirational until today by her maturity in life. This book is devastating and depressing as she developes self awareness as she grows up. Her extraordinary condition will bring you tears and closer to her. I recommend this book to anyone who needs possitive thinking in life, just how Anne Frank expressed her possitive attitude towards her hardships in life.

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Summary: A private message to reviewer Pat Barton
Review: I am so sorry that Anne didn't journal her days to your liking. Yes, she was in hiding in an attic for two solid years, but really, the nerve of her boring you to death 60 years later. I mean, the nerve of her! Where was the mystery, the car crashes, the espionage love triangle? When I was 13 I was SO much more articulate in my written words. So, she was hiding for her life, we all have our sob stories.

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Summary: Anne Frank An Inspirational Young Girl
Review: The Diary of a Young Girl was written by a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank. Anne wrote about her life hiding in an attic with her family for two years away from the Nazis. Anne writes about the different conflicts in her life while in hiding due to so many people living in such small quarters for two years. Anne and her family experienced many scares thinking the Nazis were coming for them. Anne Frank was an inspirational writer because she was so young to be writing about her life hiding from the Nazis, and everything she learned was from research and books she read.
I don't think I could really relate to any of the characters in the story because I have never had anything that terrifying happen to me. The scariest thing that has ever happen to me was being moved from one foster home to another one after being removed from my abusive biological mother. Anne Frank reminds me a lot of myself because she had a boy that she started to like over time. Peter, the boy that she is started to like, was someone she could talk to who didn't judge her and just listened to her. I have a male friend who, over time, I have started liking. He is some one that I can talk to, and he doesn't judge me; he just listens.
To be honest I didn't want to read the book about Anne Frank. The thought of reading about someone else's life was boring to me. While reading the book, I have come to realize that Anne Frank was a brave young girl to have lived the way she did. I really gained a lot learning and reading about Anne Frank. The least favorite part of the book was, after hiding for two years, the Nazis found Anne and her family and took them all away. I wish I could change the ending but it wasn't fictional; it happened in real life. I just wish that those horrible things didn't happen to Anne Frank and her family.
I encourage people to read this inspirational book about a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank. If you don't understand how Jewish people had to spend their lives in hiding, you will get a better idea about what living in fear wondering if you are going to live to see the next day is like.

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Summary: One of the most important books of the 20th Century
Review: Anne Frank's legacy has become an actual personification for the worst traumatic tragedy inflicted on God's chosen people, the Jews. And it's damn interesting in iot's right too!