Everyone has either read the Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl or is at least familiar with her true story of hiding away during the scourging of the Jews in World War II Europe.
For the purposes of this review, I’m assuming that everyone has either read Anne Frank’s book or is familiar with her complete story. If you haven’t and want to avoid a spoiler of the end of the The Diary of a Young Girl, don’t read the rest of this review (and let me know in the comments, because now I’m curious – is there someone out there who hasn’t read it?).
Annexed is a fictionalized account of this same story. In the preface, Sharon Dogar says “reimagining can be an important part of keeping history alive.” To tell a well-known story from Peter’s point of view brings him to life, reworking him from Anne’s crush to a full complete whole human being. The author assumes that the reader is familiar with the story, and presents this as an alternate viewpoint from Peter van Pels’ point of view.
Peter’s story is written in the same sort of format, not in diary form, but as daily blurbs, so it reads in the same sort of way as the groundbreaking diary, with one big difference. I remember reading Anne’s diary for the first time, just knowing that they were going to make it, and being shocked and surprised when their hideout was discovered. In Peter’s story, there is no surprise, because it opens in the Mauthausen prison camp.
This gives the entire story a bleaker feel, as it lacks the hope that they will make it out of hiding. Peter also lacks Anne’s energy and optimism that also colored her unintentional memoir, and is literally reflecting on his life, knowing that he is so very near death.
If you are interested in Anne Frank or Holocaust stories in general, Annexed is an interesting look at this horrible-but-true story of a time in our history from a teenage boy’s perspective.
Because of the concentration camp aspect, as well as the fact that he is older than Anne was (he was 16 when he went into hiding and is 18 when he is reflecting on his short life in the concentration camp sick bay). there is some more mature content in this novel. If the subject matter doesn’t trouble you or your child, I think it would be okay for most young teens.
One reason Jennifer Donovan doesn’t mind reading about horrible things is because horrible things really happen. Knowledge builds empathy and compassion. If you read her blog Snapshot, you’ll see she needs help cultivating compassion for others.
I am a huge fan of The Diary of a Young Girl, which I read for the first time last year for my history class. The Holocaust has kind of gripped me; I really devour books about it.
So, was it hard reading this since you knew it was fake, when Anne Frank’s diary was so real?
That’s a great question.
It felt just as “real” to me as Anne Frank’s diary. I think that’s partly because it had the same introspective diary-type feel to it, and even some of the same situations are mentioned.
But it is fiction.
That’s good. I’ll have to see about reading it. It sounds very interesting. 🙂
I must admit I have never read The Diary of Anne Frank. I do know the story, however. And I’ve read The Hiding Place 3 or 4 times.
I read The Hiding Place much more recently, and I actually kept thinking of it as I was reading this one.