Review: When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary by Alice Hoffman

When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary
Alice Hoffman
Scholastic Press
Published September 17, 2024

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About When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary

Bestselling author Alice Hoffman delivers a stunning novel about one of contemporary history’s most acclaimed figures, exploring the little-known details of Anne Frank’s life before she went into hiding.

Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne’s journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.

With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family’s life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.

In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious and creative and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With a wisdom far beyond her years, she becomes a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.

Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart-wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life. Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.

“Adding new poignance to a story whose ending we already knew, Alice Hoffman has deftly recreated the child Anne Frank with all her wit, mischief, and uncertainties. This fictionalized account of the increasingly desperate years that preceded the famous diary breaks readers’ hearts one more time. But it reminds us of how important it is to remember and honor all that was lost.” — Lois Lowry, Newbery Award-winning author of Number the Stars

My Review

Last year, I read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and a graphic novel adaptation for the first time. I think I’d read the play in school and then saw it performed at a local theatre. None of those other things comes close to reading the diary and the words of Anne Frank herself. Sometimes it’s so easy to believe she’s fourteen/fifteen while writing, and at other times, she writes with so much more maturity and vision than anyone would expect from someone so young.

I heard another author state that one of the most powerful things about Anne Frank’s diary is that we read it knowing how Anne’s story ends. Hoffman brings that sense of reality to this book, though Anne and her family do not know what will happen. A shadow of doom hangs over them despite the sweet memories of ice skating and afternoons with her grandmother or holding hands with a boy.

The writing stays sort of detached from the story. Reading the book, I kept feeling as though I stood on the beginning edge of a story, waiting for it to begin. In some ways, because it imagines what Anne’s daily life may have looked like in the years and months leading up to going into hiding, it is the prologue to the story of her life we are so familiar with.

I liked that the story celebrated Anne’s relationships with her family members. She and her family are under so much stress as she writes the diary. Those hard times and conflicts are preserved in amber and remembered through her diary entries. This novel imagines more nuance and ups and downs in the relationships. I don’t know if those connections are based on research. The book acknowledges Anne’s outspoken manner as well.

I think the book is a lovely tribute to the girl whose diary has changed so many lives. Some readers might find the voice to be a little strange or ethereal. I think Anne Frank fans will want to read this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Anne and her family are Jewish.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a crush between Anne and a boy.

Spiritual Content
References to Jewish holidays.

Violent Content
References to arrests, police violence, and concentration camps. A family member dies of cancer (offscene).

Drug Content
None.

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