Sunday, August 22, 2010

Anne Frank: Hidden Hope


Anne Frank: Hidden Hope by Rita Mullin is one book in the Sterling Biographies series. Mullin introduces the biography stating, Anne Frank's diary has helped people the world over to understand the impact of hatred on its victims and has opened dialogues in classrooms and government halls about the awful price of prejudice. Her story is as moving - and her words are as relevant - today as they were more than a half-century ago. (p. 1)

Mullins herself may make Anne, her family, and her life even more relevant and moving by her selection of a wide variety of facts, photographs, and images that supplement the readers' previous knowledge of Anne from her diary. One thing that I found interesting, and did not know before reading the book, was that Anne had an American penpal. Her name was Juanita Wagner and she lived on a farm in Danville, Iowa. The two exchanged letters in the fall of 1939 and April 1940. After Germany invaded the Netherlands, there was no more correspondence.

While I did not find any specific lesson plans for this book, I can think of a few myself. It might be interesting to look at Anne's diary and the information provided in this book and compare the two. Another interesting activity might be to visit the website Anne Frank Tree which is an interactive site focused on the chestnut tree behind the Secret Annex. Anne mentioned it in her diary. You are asked to put in your name and location and leave a message if you like.

The author also includes a glossary, bibliography, and index to assist the reader.

TITLE: Anne Frank: Hidden Hope
AUTHOR: Rita Thievon Mullin
COPYRIGHT: 2009
PAGES: 124
TYPE: non-fiction
RECOMMEND: Many books have been written about Anne Frank, but I found this one a bit different - with images and photographs that enhanced the well-known biography.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think what you are doing with this blog is amazing. Thank you for gathering this information for the rest of us. I agree that it is important for kids to understand and not forget the atrocities that occured during the Holocaust. I am now following this blog and look forward to your future posts.

Danielle @ everylastpage.blogspot.com

Amy said...

Hello Lu...thanks for stopping by TBSD...great site! New follower!

Susan said...

What a great idea for a blog. I always feel weird saying that I enjoy reading books about the Holocaust. Who can ENJOY such a thing? But, books written on this subject are almost always compelling, powerful and important. So, I love that you're writing this blog. I'll be back often!

P.S. - I found you through the Hop!

Ashley said...

This is a great site. Some of my favorites, that I didn't see listed on your blog are The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen (older MG/ younger YA) Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (MG) The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (older YA/Adult) and Night by Elie Wiesel (older YA/Adult)

Good luck with all you are doing on this site!

Library Cat said...

Hi Danielle, Amy and Susan - thank you so much for visiting. I really enjoy this blog and hope that it will be something that people find interesting and informative.

Hi Ashley - I have read all of these books in the past, but not recently enough to post about them. One day I will read them again and then write up a post - unless of course you would like to do a guest post for me!