When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary
The Frank family were German, but after Kristallnacht they fled to Amsterdam to escape the growing persecution of Jews in Germany. They believed that the Netherlands would be a safe haven. Anne was four when they fled, and she frequently spoke in German, especially to her German grandmother.
Anne was ten when Germany invaded in May 1940 and the Netherlands was occupied by German troops. She experienced all the uncertainties of a young girl with an active mind and imagination together with the uncertainties of living within the changing and increasingly oppressive military regime and the fear of death or deportation to a concentration camp.
The author has spent much time reading Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl and other work of and about Anne. This novel is written for young readers, age 8-11. It covers the time from the lighthearted early spring of 1940, to when the family was forced to leave their home and go into hiding. It is a period of increasing unease and repression seen through the eyes of a young girl who is trying to make sense of her world.
The reader is shown Anne as great fun to be around for some; for others, she’s too talkative, too active, too inquisitive. While her older sister, Margot, is the “good daughter,” quiet and obedient, Anne is portrayed as the difficult one but still the favorite of her father because of their shared love of reading.
The facts of military oppression combined with one young girl’s riot of fears, happiness and imagination are expressed in this novel with great clarity. Each scene and Anne’s perception of it are distinct and well defined, with a simplicity and directness that will appeal to readers of any age. Middle grade.
