Her diary, a Broadway play, a movie and countless books about Anne have brought her to life for every generation after World War II. This exemplary work, which combines many previously unseen photographs, pages from the diary and abundant historical context, has been produced “from the archives of the Anne Frank House” in Amsterdam. It’s a treasure to hold and to read, created with great care and mission. The care has gone into the superb arrangement and presentation of information. The mission is to remind us all of the total destructiveness of evil. Anne’s short life unfolds from her childhood to the years in the Secret Annex to the brief months in a concentration camp and her death. Her father’s survival, the publication of the diary and its enormous success, the establishment of the Anne Frank House and the efforts to identify the betrayer follow. Readers will pore over the pictures, so typical of a family album, read diary excerpts penned by a young girl growing into a woman and see the actual buildings and locations. She was just one of more than 1,000,000 murdered children, but her writings made her iconic. A necessary purchase. (glossary, maps) (Nonfiction. 10 & up)
