Anne Frank
The Diary of a Young Girl
Genre: Non-Fiction
Introduction by: Eleanor Roosevelt
The diary of Anne Frank is about a girl during the holocaust who hid in an "annex" but after two years was found and died at a concentration camp. The diary tells her thoughts through her journey between hiding, going through puberty, liking a boy, and finding a truest friend.
In Anne's original diary she addressed her book as Dear Kitty.
The Diary of Anne frank was always
a controversial book in school. When I attended Junior High School in public
school (1995) we read The Diary of Anne Frank in English class. It was truly
heartbreaking to hear her story and the horrors of the holocaust. The book
gives a kid’s perspective and helps us understand the tragic loss from that
era. Through her diary it allowed me to understand her view from living in the
“annex”. This book was banned from Culpepper county public schools because of
inappropriate sexual and homosexual content. There is a new edited book allowed
for English classes. I believe the benefits for this book to continue to be at
the school is to give a first look of a child’s experience during the
holocaust. Personal stories seem to be the best way to allow students to feel
what the writer expresses. I think this book should not be censored, some
schools still teach sex education so this book goes hand and hand with learning
about puberty and all you face as a child. I think this book helps children to
become self-aware and courageous knowing that it is ok to feel the emotions
they feel during their teens. Her famous line in her diary “still I believe in
spite of everything…people are really good at heart.” Knowing everything she
has been through and that she eventually dies, she is truly inspiring to young
children everywhere. This book is recommended for grades 5 – 9.
Bibliography:
Frank, A. (1993). Anne Frank: diary of a young girl. New York, NY: Bantam/Doubleday.
Hi Charlotte! A great activity for this book would be to have students keep their own diary for a little while and then turn it into a book for students to keep.
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