The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Memoir

It’s difficult to rate or review a book like this, which was written with no intention to become something read by others. Though partway through her time in hiding, Anne heard that diaries and other writings kept by people during this time would be of interest to the world later and started to make some edits to her diary, it’s still mostly raw introspection and secret thoughts. I think also that the translation left a bit to be desired at times, as there were sections that didn’t really make a lot of sense to me. But overall, I would say that, though the Franks and others in the Secret Annex were in hiding during the Holocaust and that fear and pain permeates the diary entries, it’s really more a study of being in hiding and living in close quarters with a group of people who have vastly different (or sometimes too similar) personalities. These people did not get along, even within their own family. Anne discovered that her family wasn’t as close as she thought they were and feels completely alone almost all the time. Anne herself is almost painfully naïve and immature at times, even while she talks about how much she thinks she’s matured and learned. 

My thirteen-year-old daughter decided she wanted to read this book, so I thought it was a good time to re-visit it myself. She was incredibly uncomfortable during one particular part that was understandably omitted from earlier publishings of the diary, and I would say that it’s a wholly unnecessary section (Anne describing in quite vivid detail what a female’s genitalia looks like). I really can’t imagine why Anne felt the need to write about that in her diary, but again, she didn’t expect it to be read by millions of people over the next several decades. In the end, would I say this is necessary reading for teenagers or for those interested in learning about the Holocaust? No. I’d actually recommend quite a few other books before this one (The Hiding Place and Night for starters). But it certainly does provide some insight into something that a lot of people went through during a very dark time.

Find out more about The Diary of a Young Girl

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!