Publication: October 4th 2010 by HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: Library Book
Goodreads Summary: Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex – but what about the boy who was also trapped there with her?
In this powerful and gripping novel, Sharon Dogar explores what this might have been like from Peter’s point of view. What was it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her? Especially with your parents and her parents all watching almost everything you do together. To know you’re being written about in Anne’s diary, day after day? What’s it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution? Or to just sit and wait and watch while others die, and wish you were fighting.
As Peter and Anne become closer and closer in their confined quarters, how can they make sense of what they see happening around them?
Anne’s diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter’s story takes us on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps. He details with accuracy, clarity and compassion the reality of day to day survival in Auschwitz – and ultimately the horrific fates of the Annex’s occupants.
Goodreads Page
My Thoughts:
*This Review Contains Some Spoilers for both The Diary of a Young Girl and Annexed*
Lately, I've been on an Anne Frank kick, sort of speak. I've read her diary and the supplement book called Tales from the Secret Annex in the past few months. I just happened upon this book when I was looking on a bookseller's website and was instantly interested in reading a book from Peter's point of view.
I thought this was an interesting read in many ways. Although it doesn't flow as easily as Anne's diary does, it still hits most of the major events that occurred in Anne's diary. I really liked some of the conversations Peter had with his parents and seeing a new perspective of the van Pels that wasn't so tainted by Anne's annoyance with them. I felt that Dogar captured Peter's spirit quite well and his quiet thoughts he may have had. I also really appreciated Dogar trying her best to piece together what Peter must have gone through after they were discovered in the annex and sent to the death camps. That's something that is often not discussed or depicted because Anne's diary ends before we ever know what happened to them there. I felt it added a special touch to the book.
I had a couple issues with it which is why I gave it 3 stars. In the beginning of the book, the author notes that she tried her best to stay true to Anne's diary in what she recorded, the sequence of events, etc. However, this isn't true when it comes to Anne's and Peter's romance. While I understand that Dogar was trying to get a new perspective and trying to imagine what Peter was feeling while also keeping in mind how biased Anne could have been in her diary, I didn't feel as if their romance was accurately depicted. Dogar depicts Peter as being very uninterested in Anne for quite a while before he finds himself liking her. In Anne's diary, he teases her/flirts with her quite a bit before she ever becomes interested in him. I think her approach was interesting but nonetheless inaccurate. I didn't mind some of the other inaccuracies, especially because this is a fiction book and the writer had an author's note all about it in the beginning, but something as vital to the story as their romance was something I felt should've been depicted more accurately.
I also didn't like how explicit the book was. A lot of people wouldn't find it explicit at all; however, I did and it bothered me. Peter spends all of his time thinking about sex. And that's pretty much all he cares about. Not even 1/3 of the way in, Peter is having multiple sexual dreams about a girl. He also is implied to only be interested in Anne because he wants to have sex with her. While I understand that this would be realistic in some cases, it's not something I care to read about and feel that the book would have been better without this theme dripping all through the entire book.
Likes: Interesting take. Didn't lag in any way. Stayed true to Peter's character depicted in Anne's diary. Went all the way through to the death camps.
Dislikes: Inaccurate depiction of Anne and Peter's romance. Peter's obsession with sex.
Overall:
Recommend? Yes.
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