From ack.net/lifestyle
By Claire Henneman
This past April I had the opportunity to tour the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
To no surprise it was one of the most moving experiences I have ever encountered in my life. I have not read Anne Frank’s diary in full since I was in the eighth grade.
Reading Anne’s diary is a duty I feel we all must follow through on. It teaches us that we must never let what happened to Anne and all others murdered in the Holocaust happen again.
Alice Hoffman wrote “When We Flew Away” this year. It is a fictionalized version of Anne Frank’s life before we know her from the diary we all know so well.
“When We Flew Away” is a novel told from the perspective of Anne from the ages of 10 to 13. It focuses heavily on contrasting the two Frank sisters, Anne, the naughty little sister, and Margot, the book-smart older sister.
Anne is consistently trying to convince Margot to break the rules for a change and is on occasion successful in her attempts.
Hoffman also highlights the incredible relationship Anne had with her father Otto. Otto and Anne shared a love of stories and Otto is no doubt the reason Anne began writing stories for herself in her diary.
Hoffman also showcases the sometimes strained relationship Anne shared with her mother Edith.
As the novel progresses and Anne grows older, the harsh realities of hatred are continually revealed. Anne, a free-spirited young girl, is forced into fear and silence, unable to experience adolescence in the way all children are meant to.
Anne’s favorite things like ice cream dates and playing in the park were stripped from her, all because she was Jewish and some thought lesser of her for that.
Although the reader knows of Anne’s ultimate fate, the novel showcases the unwavering faith Anne had in good winning over evil.
Anne dreamed of moving to California and experiencing an entirely different life where she was free to be a girl and live a life without so much hatred.
Instead, Anne is memorialized as a girl who never got to grow up. All because for a while, evil was allowed to triumph over good.
Anne also reminds us of the trials and tribulations of being a teenager even in the darkest of times.
It is important to note that “When We Flew Away” is a novel and we have no way of knowing Anne’s exact day-to-day experiences, emotions and feelings in the years leading up to her time in the secret attic.
I believe Hoffman wrote this story at an incredibly important time in our history. There is so much evil in the world it can feel overwhelming.
Hoffman shows that this evil has a way of spreading and it does not take long to do so.
Although “When We Flew Away” is intended for younger readers I encourage everyone to pick it up.
It is a story of a young girl growing up in the most difficult of circumstances and somehow still having hope.
The book also holds an extremely important message: Evil can spread quickly and we must do everything in our power to ensure that good prevails.
Claire Henneman is a library associate at the Nantucket Atheneum.
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