Diary of Anne Frank

By: Geena G.

The Diary of Anne Frank is a heartbreaking account of a young girl's life while in hiding during the second World War. The diary was written by Anne Frank herself, a vivacious Jewish teenager in 1942 who was awoken one morning and dragged into an abandoned attic of a warehouse where she would spend the next two years of her life pretending to not exist. The Frank family, Otto, Edith, Margot, and Anne lived in the attic with another Jewish family, Peter, Hermann, and Auguste van Pels, in the "secret annex" for two years before getting discovered and arrested.  

Anne writes to her diary daily during the two years, unable to leave the warehouse while war rages outside. Instead, she lives like a normal teenager in abnormal circumstances, writing about friends, love, annoying parents, and her philosophy on life. She writes about her sister, her unresolved feelings for Peter, her cat, her previous dreams of becoming a writer, and her heartache for the outdoors. The goodness in her heart shows through the pages and gives the reader a newfound sense of warmth and gratitude for their surroundings.

I personally found this diary heartbreaking, yet eye-opening. Anne was an incredible writer and person who inspired thousands. Her heart of gold attitude towards a horrific situation was moving and her belief that there remained some good in everyone, after experiencing firsthand how terrible people could be is awe-inspiring. I would recommend this book for everyone, ages 11 up, due to a necessary understanding of the severity of the situation. This diary is a perfect read for someone who is looking for a historical, yet personal account of the tragic event of World War II.