Annexed by Sharon Dogar

"The powerful story of the boy who loved Anne Frank"

"I look out the window into the street...I'm meant to be at Mr. Frank's workplace in a few hours. We're arriving separately, all of us. We'll walk into the building just like it was any other visit - only this time we'll never walk out again.

What was it like hiding in the Annex with Anne Frank? To be with Anne every day while she wrote so passionately in her diary? To be in a secret world within a world at war - alive on the inside, everything dying on the outside? Peter Van Pels and his family have lost their country, their home, and their freedom, and now they are fighting desperately to remain alive. Look through Peter's eyes.

He has a story to tell, too.

Are you listening?"

I originally started this blog to only keep track of my ongoing Newbery project progress. But, I DO read OTHER books too, and sometimes I just HAVE to say something about them. Sometimes they touch me in some way. This was one of them. I read The Diary of Anne Frank a LONG time ago. This book grabbed my attention, since it is the same story but from a different point of view. It IS a work of fiction - something to keep in mind - but it is an interesting idea of what might have happened. The Holocaust was such a HORRIBLE time in history - I just can't even begin to imagine. The last part of the book is not for the faint of heart - just a warning. I was in tears.

This book is meant for older teens, fyi. My 10 year old daughter read Anne Frank last year, and loved it, so when I first saw this on the YA shelf, I thought "ooh, Emily might enjoy this!" No. It is definitely not appropriate for her age group. I would say 14 and up.