Author: Anne Frank
Pages: 283
Book take place in the country: YES
Author is from the country: Yes (but not born there)
I have visited: YES (updated 5/30/2019) - we finally went to see Amsterdam and the Anne Frank House!
I read this book several times over my life - starting with required reading when I was in junior high school. I read it to all three of my children and they in turn have recently had it as part of their school reading. Here in Switzerland, on the border of Germany, World War II is a big part of the curriculum. My German teacher told me that part of her schooling growing up was also visiting the concentration camps and grave sites of the people who died under Nazi rule. She told us that the war and German's mistakes were drilled into them so that it never happens again.
While Anne Frank lived only shortly in the Netherlands and most of it in hiding, I have chosen it (for now) as my Netherlands book. It is a book that is already on my shelf, and it sits as a reminder of how one person can truly destroy a race of people. Before we leave Switzerland, we plan to visit the Anne Frank house with our kids to fully witness what it was like for her and her family.
This is the story of a Jewish girl who hid in an Annex in Amsterdam during WWII. She and her family went into hiding. She was 13 at the time she started the diary and went into hiding. For two years, her family and several others, kid in a small Annex until they were betrayed. The diary is almost a daily account of Anne's life in the Annex and her feelings about all the people that are there with her.
This, of course, is a classic. I haven't read it since I was in the 8th grade. I still find it amazing that it is required reading among middle schools in the US, and - of course - here with us here in Switzerland. The kids have been really into the story, and asking a lot of questions. And our plan will be to take them to Amsterdam in the spring to see the Anne Frank house. It is great that we can take a story from a book and show them in real life.
If for some reason, you have never read this book - or it has been a long time since you have - pick it up. I think it is good to be reminded - especially in today's climate - what can happen when power falls into the wrong hands.
Stars: 5
It has been a long time since I picked up this book ! I have to read this soon and this is a great idea for a blog post.
ReplyDeleteI surprising haven't read this book. My sister has it and this has made me want to put it closer to the top of my TBR.
ReplyDeleteI was in a production of Anne Frank while I was in college and so we did research on Anne Frank throughout the production leading up to opening night--needless to say, this was one of the books me and my lighting team read and I'm so glad I did. 10/10
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