Nonfiction Spotlight: Anne Frank's Diary

Title: Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation

Adapted By: Ari Folman

Illustrated By: David Polonsky

Publisher: Anne Frank Fonds

Copyright date: 2018

Target Audience: Teens

Lexile Reading Level: GN800L

Book Trailer:

Anne Frank's Diary, page 5. This illustration captures
the feel of Anne's Diary--it's like Anne is
whispering all of her secrets to her best friend.

Summary:

This is an Anne Frank graphic novel biography, adapted from her original diary by Ari Folman and David Polonsky on behalf of the Anne Frank Fonds. While they admittedly could not transfer every diary entry and word into a graphic format, they did take five years to determine which scenes were best represented in graphics and tried their best to “remain true to Anne Frank’s memory and legacy” (p. 149). This adaptation starts on June 12, 1942-the day Anne received her dear diary, Kitty for her 13^th birthday, to August 1^st, 1944-three days before Anne’s family is arrested and sent away to concentration camps. It details Anne’s day-to-day life and struggles as she hides from the Nazis in the secret apartment of her father’s jam stabilizing company.

Anne Frank's Diary page 42, The date is written
across the  top of the page like a typical diary entry 
and is accompanied by Polonsky's vivid animations.

Critique of Contents & Organization:

This book has a Cast of Characters, Afterword (p.146), Adapter’s Note (p. 148), A Note About the Author (p.151), A note About the Adapter (p.151), and A Note About the Illustrator (p.151).

The organization of the novel is much like an illustrated diary. The date is listed across the top of the page and Ari Folman expertly weaves Anne’s original diary text into the frames, sometimes as nothing more than a diary entry, sometimes accompanied by David Polonsky’s startlingly vivid animations. 

I love how they hold their comic-like art quality, but some how feel very realistic. Perhaps it’s because the familiar words and horrific situations are presented visually and cannot be ignored or as easily filtered by the mind.

Anne Frank's  Diary, page 28. I love
how we get to see Anne's personality 
come to light in Polonsky's illustrations.

I love all the instances where readers get to see Anne’s personality come to light in the illustrations. Polonsky does a great job of expressing her emotions. I also really loved seeing the drawings that mapped out the Annex. As someone who has never visited the Anne Frank Museum, it was very interesting to finally give the space a visual representation.

Anne Frank's Diary, page 35. This is the rendition of the Annex
where Anne, her family and the Van Daan's hid from 1942-1944.

I feel that together, Folman and Polonsky have made Anne very relatable in their adaptation and have created a powerful and important gateway into a tragic and horrific time in history for reluctant teenage readers.

Reasons to Include this Title in Your Library Collection:

This adaptation is perfect for reluctant teenage readers and any fans of graphic novels or comics—but still portrays an accurate account of an important and tragic time in history. I feel like the graphic novel version has an advantage over the written text in that it doesn’t allow readers to skim over the details that are too horrific or difficult for the mind to handle. For example, to the right is an example of Anne’s constant nightmares. We can read about them in her diary, but there are no visuals for us to connect with so they might not have as big of an impact on readers. However, in the graphic novel adaptation it’s hard not to be haunted by the visual representations of her nightmares.

Use & Extension Activities:

•     Discussion of WWII and the Holocaust
•     Compare and Contrast the original Diary to the Graphic Novel Adaptation
•     Have a Holocaust Survivor visit your school or library (Scholastic)
•     Investigate past and present instances of government sanctioned intolerance and genocide (Scholastic)

Read Alikes:

Title: The Diary of a Young Girl

Author:  Anne Frank

Reason: This is Anne Frank’s original diary, if readers want to know more about Anne Frank, this is the book to read.

Title: The Complete Maus

Author:  Art Spiegelman

Reasoning: This is another graphic novel of a Holocaust Survivor’s Tale and how the Holocaust affected his family even after the war was over. While it doesn’t shy away from any of the graphic details, it has been marked on Goodreads and Common Sense Media as a must read for teenagers and adults interested in learning more about the Holocaust.