Anne writes about her family and the others in the secret annexe so descriptively that we feel as though we know them. She describes daily life in hiding, and the fear that governs all of their lives, so well that we feel as though we are there, and when Anne's diary suddenly ends we are shocked, knowing that, for Anne and her family, hiding was only the beginning of the horror.
Anne accomplished her dream and desire to go on "living even after death." She was so confident that no one would be interested in reading her diary and yet today, her diary has sold millions. Her diary is one of the most important documents ever discovered. We wonder with deep sadness what Anne might have accomplished if she had lived, but perhaps with her diary she accomplished more than she thought. She wondered if anyone would be "interested in the unbecoming of a thirteen year old schoolgirl".
Anne is innocently optimistic throughout most of the book, but in the end she lost it. Her painful cry, "Let the end come, even if it is hard!" came true, and sixty years later this disturbing quote speaks, telling readers exactly how difficult conditions of the secret annexe were and how close to suicide Anne was.
Anne Frank was a person, no different from you and I and this amazing diary of the life she lead in hiding ought to be read.


Anne Frank's Diary   December 20, 2003
 21 out of 26 found this review helpful

I was bought the Diary of Anne Frank for a fourteenth birthday present, and was pleasantly surprised with how this book managed to engrosse me with its content to such an extent that I actually could not put it down. It is based around the diary entries of Anne Frank from the age of thirteen, whom is in hiding in an Amsterdam warehouse with her family during the Second World War. A deeply moving true-life story, it reveals this young girl's innermost thoughts and feelings about her fears of being discovered in her hiding place, the people she is living with, and the experiences of growing up. Unlike many other books written for teenagers and young adults, this diary has not been edited in a way that hesitates to reflect upon the true depth of a child's mind, revealing details about the real Anne Frank such as her sexuality and her gradual recognition that the people she loves are actually not who she thought them to be, which as time goes by, leads her to become a more self-sufficient young woman. Rather frightning at times, the diary retells Anne's experiences of intruders in the warehouse that she fears are Nazi soldiers, wanting to capture her and her family. However, she does manage to find comfort in her developing relationship with her friend Peter, who also lives in the warehouse and is falling in love with Anne as she is with him. The only way in which I can really fault this book is the way in which, at times, it goes into detail about quite insignificant events, for instance, a day in the warehouse may be commented upon if "nothing interesting has been happening lately", which made parts of the book like this seem a little tedious, which perhaps can be expected of a real diary, although the story was sure to be made that much more exciting very soon after. With such, a wide variety of events occuring in her life, it is hard for anybody to not enjoy at least some aspects of this book, particuarly because of the way in which she reveals everything about herself to her diary, providing vivid occurrences that so many people can relate to, though particuarly people of a similar age to Anne. I highly reccommend this book to anybody between the ages of 12 and 16 that are looking for a more meaningful read than many books that are published now, that they can relate to and feel inspired by such a strong character that is Anne Frank.
Kelsey, 14


A heartbraking diary   December 19, 2003
 6 out of 10 found this review helpful

Anne Frank kept a diary from 12 June 1942 to 1 August 1944 when Holland was under the Nazi regime. She accounts of the suffering of her family who spent this period of time hidden in the Secret Annexe, just before being arrested on 4 August 1944. Although the “Diary” is now fifty years old, it remains in my view an astonishing and excruciating account of what Jews had to endure during the Second World War. The evidence of Anne Frank’s ferocious appetite for life gnaws at us still.