Hiding in Plain Sight: A Review of The Diary of Anne Frank: The Definitive Edition By Anne Frank

Megan Farnsworth ID# 991636494 5 August 2011 CIMT 512 Patterson Indiana State University

Farnsworth CIMT 512 2

Hiding in Plain Sight

By Megan Farnsworth

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition

Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. Ed. Otto Frank and Mirjam Pressler. Trans. Susan Massotty. New York: Anchor Books, 1996. Illustrated. 341 pp. $19.77. (Ages 12 and up)

Imagine living two years without feeling the sun shine on your face, without feeling the rain kiss your eyelids, without feeling the wind whip through your hair, and without feeling the cool breeze blow against your skin. That is exactly the life to which Anne Frank transports the reader in The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. This is the true story of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl whose family left Germany to escape persecution only to wind up in hiding in Amsterdam.

The narrative begins on Annes thirteenth birthday when she receives what turns out to be her most important gift: a diary. With this present, Anne begins a two-year chronicle of her life, such as it is, hiding in the Secret Annex in a warehouse in downtown Amsterdam. Anne is brutally honest with readers as she shares her feelings about her mother, her fellow residents in the annex, her sexuality, and her fears. She portrays her mother as ineffectual. Anne feels that her mother treats her and Margot, her sister, as friends rather than as daughters. Throughout the book, readers feel Annes anger, frustration, and lack of respect toward her mother. Anne also expresses her frustrations with others in hiding. She feels that she is misunderstood and uses her diary to express her emotions.

Farnsworth CIMT 512 3 Controversy exists within the pages of Annes diary when she openly writes about her sexuality. She portrays the real and honest feelings of a girl going through puberty under a microscope. She wants to be loved by Peter, a young resident of the annex, and wants to be viewed as young woman instead of a child. She writes a letter to father expressing her determination to be treated as an adult because she believes that her experiences in hiding have made her mature and wise beyond her years. Most passages dealing with Annes sexuality in this edition were omitted in the original publication of her diary because sexuality was not a topic that was not written about or discussed with young adults in 1947.

The photographs included in the diary help the reader visualize both Annes family before their forced seclusion and the layout of the building that housed the Secret Annex. Anne has also included a sketch of their hiding place to orient readers to her new surroundings. The reader can almost feel Annes heart beating as she describes the warehouse break in. As the police rattle the bookcase, the portal to their safe haven, the reader can feel the raw emotion and fear of being discovered that Anne and the others coped with on a regular basis. The diarys impact could be enhanced if paired with Anne Frank beyond the Diary: A Photographic Remembrance by Ruud van der Rol and Rian Verhoeven. This photobiography includes background material and helps readers visualize the setting and context for the writing of Annes actual diary.

Anne remains optimistic that the British will invade and that the war will soon end. She dreams of a day when the war is over and her life will return to normal. She longs to attend school and to be outside again. Anne writes, As long as this exists, I thought, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad? Unfortunately, though, Anne is sad when she thinks about the loss of her independence. She even wonders if death would be better than the misery of hiding. Anne tries to remain optimistic by dreaming of her future as a journalist who wants her life to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those Ive never met. I want to go on

Farnsworth CIMT 512 4 living even after my death! Annes words proved prophetic, as her emotional writing during a painful time in the worlds history has captivated readers all over the world.

The Diary of Anne Frank: The Definitive Edition is appropriate in a library collection for middle school and high school students as well as adults. This edition is worthy of purchase because it contains more information regarding Anne and her mother, her sexuality, and her relationships with others in the annex than previous editions. It also contains some previously undiscovered diary entries. This diary provides an honest glimpse of the real Anne and her experiences as she matured. This historical account of life for a Jewish girl in Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II is a powerful read for anyone studying the atrocities of World War II. Annes writings bring humanity to a group of people who were cast aside as less than human. She dreams of a day when well be people again and not just Jews! With the publication of her diary, Annes voice lives on and inspires readers everywhere to appreciate their own lives and the freedoms they enjoy.