The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition (Acting Edition S.)

by Anne Frank

Otto M Frank (Editor), Mirjam Pressler (Editor), and Susan Massotty (Translator)

Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank’s remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. 

In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annex” of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

Praise for The Diary of a Young Girl

“A truly remarkable book.”—The New York Times

“One of the most moving personal documents to come out of World War II.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“There may be no better way to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II than to reread The Diary of a Young Girl, a testament to an indestructible nobility of spirit in the face of pure evil.”—Chicago Tribune

“The single most compelling personal account of the Holocaust . . . remains astonishing and excruciating.”—The New York Times Book Review

“How brilliantly Anne Frank captures the self-conscious alienation and naïve self-absorption of adolescence.”—Newsday

• ISBN10: 0553577123
• ISBN13: 9780553577129
• Publish Date: 3 February 1997 (first published 8 January 1912)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc
• Imprint: Bantam USA
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553577129

Reviews

[nannah]

(Unrated: I don't think this is something I can "rate", based on content, enjoyment, or organization/skill/etc. of material.)

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter



The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is the type of book that you can't really apply a rating to. After all, how do you place a star rating to the events that a real person has lived? You can't.

I started reading The Diary of a Young Girl that everyone is familiar with; the little mauveish/brown color paperback. While reading, I'd get curious about something Anne had written and do some internet research. I was almost finished when I realized that there was a "deluxe" edition out in the world. Otto Frank, Anne's father and sole family member to survive the Holocaust, edited and removed entries or sections that he wished to keep private. Mr. Frank left his earthly belongings to the Anne Frank Foundation including Anne's original diary. The Foundation would later publish the diary with the missing entries.

I remember reading parts of The Diary of Anne Frank in elementary school and seeing the play. Looking back I knew that WWII and the Holocaust was bad but I know there is no way that I understood a fraction of the statistics. As an adult I don't even understand. Re-reading The Diary of a Young Girl was slightly heartbreaking. There were entries where Anne would talk about what kind of person she wanted to be and I'd have to stop for a bit because I knew what Anne couldn't. As silly as it sounds, I felt like as long as I read the book Anne was still alive. Normally the end of a book is bittersweet. The end of The Diary of a Young Girl is just bitter. The decision to stop wasn't the author's and knowing what would come made it a hard pill to swallow.

I was heartsick for awhile after finishing Anne's story but I feel that the more we know, the more we can learn.

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

For her 13th birthday Anne Frank received a diary she dubbed Kitty. Shortly after her birthday with the fear that her older sister, Margo may be taken by the Nazis the Franks disappear into the night and go into hiding. It is through Kitty that Anne records her thoughts and daily life living behind a bookcase in the secret annex.

When I was younger I went through a "holocaust" phase before moving on to Harriet Tubman and slavery. The funny thing is that Anne Frank's Diary was not the first Holocaust book I read, I think that was The Devil's Advocate. Anyway,I soon became fascinated by the Secret Annex and the secluded life she lived for two years. Unfortunately she and the other occupants of the Annex were betrayed and sent to concentration camps with only her father Otto Frank surviving. The tragic thing (not to minimize the inhumanity of it all) is that Anne died mere weeks before liberation. Anne's dream was to have her diary published after the war and after liberation her father saw that happen, making Kitty a time capsule to an unfathomable past.

View all my reviews on my blog She is too fond of books

[ladygrey]

If I was inclined to really long shelf names this would be on the books-i-read-in-highschool-and-didn't-really-enjoy shelf.

I don't remember much except that I didn't care for this book much. My two star rating is specifically designed for just such a book: well written, classic, popular that I just don't like reading.