A Friend Called Anne: One girl's story of War, Peace and a unique friendship withAnne Frank

by Jacqueline van Maarsen

As a resident of Amsterdam who was lucky enough to be deported and not sent to concentration camps like other families, Jopie, a close friend of Anne Frank, provides stories of their friendship while recollecting what life was like during that difficult period in time as, one by one, friends and neighbors were gathered up and sent away.

Genres: Holocaust, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Autobiography, Historical, Jewish

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2004

About the author

Jacqueline Yvonne Meta van Maarsen was a Dutch author and bookbinder. She was best known for her friendship with diarist Anne Frank. Her Christian mother was able to remove the J (Jew) signs from the family's identity cards (van Maarsen's father was Jewish) during the Second World War, thereby helping the van Maarsens escape the Nazis.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book.
I enjoyed reading about Anne and Jacqueline's friendship, and Jacqueline's own experience with the war.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This particular book takes the story of Anne Frank and looks at it from a slightly different point of view - from that of one of her friends who knew her before she went into hiding. This is a somewhat different view of Anne, where we see her as a thoughtless child sometimes, not always very good at being a friend, but extremely passionate in all she said and did. This gives another dimension to Anne, helping us to see her as a human being and not some perfect girl or victim as she's often portrayed.

I enjoyed seeing what happened from another point of view, even if the story was simplified to make it appropriate for children. It at least gave me a flavor of something new, helping to enrich my understanding. This alone makes the book worthwhile and one I'm glad I read.

[Macy Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the book "A Friend Called Anne" was very good. As I was reading this book I thought about all the relations to other Anne Frank books that I have read in the past, I must say I like this one the most. I enjoyed this one because it was told by her best friend Jacqueline. She told how they met and what happened when she changed religons and Anne wasn't able to. Anne was forced to go into hiding if she had any chance to stay alive. Jacqueline was taken away from her best friend because she was Jewish. When Anne's family was caught by the Nazi Army. Anne was forced to leave her diary behind. Many years later, Anne's father contacted Jacqueline and offered her the diary. Jacqueline couldn't take it because when she was little she promised Anne she would never take it because it was privite. Therefore she kept a small promise to Anne, and kept faithful to Anne's request.

[Veronica]

I really enjoyed this book and all it had to offer. At times I cried and others I smiled, and it really made me think about life itself. T his book was beautifully written and showed a very personal story of a close friend of Anne Frank. I would defiantly encourage anyone who enjoys history to read this book.

[RuthyMB · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous book. I stumbled upon this by chance at a local book swap outside someone’s house.
For anyone who’s read Anne Franks diary this really helps piece together lots of the stories in there.
She really was Anne’s best friend, “Jopie” from the diary. Jacqueline tells us quite a bit about her life before and after the war, and her friendship with Otto Frank.
Read it in a few hours 😀

[Tish · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a new insight to Anne Frank, my only wish is to have read it by Jacqueline but it's allowed me to find the books in her own words. A brilliant little book though that shows the times before Anne went into hiding and the times after her death, explanations into the things she wrote but also Jacqueline's own story of what it was like to live in fear.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book!

[Anna Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna Rose LA 4


Book Title: A Friend Called Anne

Author: Jacqueline Van Maarsen

# of pages: 158

Genre: Historical Non-Fiction

“A Friend Called Anne” is a story of a girl who had a very close friendship with Anne Frank. It tells of the relationship they had and how it was effected by the holocaust. Jackie and Anne would go over to each others houses everyday after school. They would play games, share secrets, and talk about their box of movie star collectible cards. One day, when Jackie calls Anne to see if she can come over, Anne quickly picks up and says that she cannot come over and that she is very busy at the moment. Little did they know, that would be the last time they ever spoke to each other. Both of the girls had promised each other that they would write goodbye letters if they had to suddenly leave. Anne's family was in danger because they were Jews, and many Jews were, and had been deported. The Franks had to leave and hide so that they would not be in danger any longer. The Franks told the house keeper and the Van Maarsens that they had gone to Switzerland to hide. The truth was, they were hiding in the space above Mr. Franks' work building. When the war had finally ended, Mr. Frank returned with a story of how they had been betrayed by the person who was keeping their secret. They Frank family had been deported to a concentration camp and split up. Mr. Frank never saw his daughters after that. He did know that his wife had died. At Mr. Franks return, he soon found out that both of his daughters had died. He informed Jackie and found Anne's diary. He perused her wishes and had it published. Soon to become a best seller.


The character I would like to have as my friend would be Anne. Because she is very brave and did what she had to do to keep her family safe. Even if it meant keeping a secret from her best friend.

“Listen, Jackie, I'm a bit busy right now. Can I call you back?”
Page: 76

Another reason I would like this character as my friend is because she had a great personality and she was always cheerful.

“No, I have to go. Moortje needs a bath.” (Moortje was her pet cat.)
Page:


Favorite Part: I liked the part of the book when Anne and Jackie held a film party at Anne's house. The made invitations and tickets. They gave everyone a row and a seat to sit in and set up a projector to play the movie.

[Ana Dufore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book a friend called Anne is a historical book. It is about two friends a girl jacqueline and Anne and how they go through the holocaust as friends and what they do for fun.
The authors mood towards her characters is very engaged she love everything about there friend ship. The characters are very round and have a lot going on and things to do, but Anne is probably more round than jacqueline because she is more exciting and is very talkative and exciting. The two main characters of the book were jacqueline and Anne.
The major themes of this book was the nazi and when they invaded the Netherlands and they started war, so when bombs are going off and you have to be careful were you go and what you say and do. Also after and before the war when everything was normal and happy and people were free again and there were parties in the streets. These themes were very unusually because the nazi only struck once for a few years and then were defeated.These two themes developed fairly quickly with no idea or thoughts of it happening
The two friends were best friends and then all of a sudden Anne left with no trace and over time died at a camp. jacqueline was devastated and thought her life was over but her life went on and over time she started to feel better about it and over time didn't cry every time she thought about it but she still thinks about it every day.
Before Anne and jacqueline were separated they were both in the netherlands together as best friends. But after they were separated jacqueline was in the netherlands while Anne was at a camp. Before the holocaust in the netherlands everything was normal and happy but after the holocaust started the netherlands were in sorrows and bombs were going off and sirens were going off ever minute it was a horrible time period.
Finally after the was there was still outbreaks of people shooting innocent people out on the streets but all people were free and over time the outbreaks stopped. Still to this day there are nazi people or prejudices but there aren't anywhere to as close to how many there were in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

[Stacie (MagicOfBooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A Friend Called Anne" is a piece of nonfiction told by Jacqueline van Maarsen who was a friend of Anne Frank. Van Maarsen lived in Amsterdam alongside Anne during the Nazi occupation. In this heartwarming story, van Maarsen shares her stories of being Anne's best friend, all the secrets they shared, their gossip over boys and love of movie stars. Van Maarsen was half-Jewish so she also shares her own experience of the Holocaust as she watched her friends, family, and other Jews deported. With Amsterdam eventually liberated, van Maarsen remembers the day she found out Anne was dead and that Mr. Frank, Anne's father, wanted to publish Anne's diary. "A Friend Called Anne" is a tale about two friends, a war that separated them, and the fame of Anne's diary that brought them back together again.

Truly a heartbreaking, but heartwarming story. When we think of Anne Frank we think of her diary and the horrors that she had to have faced. What van Maarsen's narrative gives us is an Anne Frank who once lived a normal, happy life. A girl who had dreams and ambitions. And a girl who was prone to dramatics and jealousy. Anybody who has read "The Diary of Anne Frank" should pick this up, especially just to see Anne Frank in a new angle and to hear van Maarsen's experiences during World War II. What's important to note, this piece is primarily for children. It's very short, very quick to read, and it's done in such a way to appeal to modern children and to teach them about the Holocaust and ethnic racism. Overall, I really did enjoy this. Light and quick and a whole new look at Anne, while also getting to know a girl from Anne's life. Even though Anne Frank has become an iconic historical figure, van Maarsen's story is just as interesting and just as intriguing.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne's best friend, "Jopie" in her diary and Jacqueline Van Maarsen in real life, tells the story of her friendship with Anne as the Netherlands fell under German Occupation. This account is absolutely heartbreaking. There's a lot that the children in this book were living that was almost too much for me to stomach - the German-Jewish baker who killed himself and his family to avoid being rounded up by the Nazis, the children and teachers who continued disappearing from the Jewish Lyceum, the rights that were systematically stripped away. More than anything, though, I was fascinated by Jacqueline's account of Otto Frank returning to Amsterdam, his search for the daughters that he believed might be alive, and then, the account of where and how the girls had died. I hadn't known much about Anne Frank after her diary ended, but the mental picture of her walking around Bergen-Belsen in only a blanket because she refused to wear lice-infested clothes was just so powerful - so Anne - that I really had to step back and admire how she had refused to be crushed and, even in dying, she died Anne.

[Leticia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only reason I rated this with 3 stars was because when I bought the book, I had expected more letters - letters from Jacqueline to Anne and vice versa. The back cover is a bit misleading in that way, because it shows a letter written by Anne to Jacqueline. Jacqueline's life is interesting, but I had expected the book to focus more around Anne and Jacqueline. Instead, the book focused on Jacqueline's life during the war and the changes going on during that time, with a few stories about how Jacqueline met Anne and kindled a friendship with her. It seemed to use Anne Frank and her friendship with Jacqueline as a selling point for the book, out of a fear if they were truthful that the book was about a girl who happened to be friends with Anne Frank but had her own story to tell, it wouldn't be interesting.

It was a good book, and it's always interesting to read about someone other than Anne Frank during the WW2 period, however I was disappointed that it seemed to be less about Anne Frank than the title implied. After all, it is called "A Friend Called Anne". Still a good book.

[Clement Ting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne's best friend, Jacqueline tells us about her friendship with Anne on how they met and how their friendship developed over the 2 years of knowing each other. Jacqueline details down in the 1st half of the book on how Anne was always cheerful and optimistic in her writings despite the gloom times of WW2. The book also mentioned the few activities Anne did together with Jacqueline such as hosting a cinema in her house for her close friends, reading, talking about boys etc.

The 2nd part then talks about Jacqueline's life, seeing how her friends and family slowly disappearing one by one, either in hiding or deportation, and what she did to move on.

I thoroughly enjoyed this very simple read as the book gives us a life of Anne before hiding in the Annex, and the ending was perfect too. Although it crumbles my heart knowing that even though Anne and Jacqueline will never meet anymore, their friendship is a beautiful one that transcends the boundary of life and death.

[Soha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read "A Friend Called Anne" and it truly is one of my favorite books. It is about a girl named Jacqueline who was friends with Anne Frank of the Holocaust. I recomend this book to anyone who likes to read about the Holocaust.

[Kathleen Huang · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend called Anne is a memoir written by Jacqueline van Maarsen, in the book she tells of her friendship with Anne Frank, that was very close, however, all of this is being affected by the Holocaust. It tells of the relationship they had and how it was effected b. In the book, Anne is being depicted as a typical, fun-loving girl like her age. Jacqueline was lucky, so she was able to get on the escaping deportation by the Nazis; but many of her other friends were not os lucky, the only thing she could do was to helplessly watching friends, including Anne. Which their families members would just disappear. Through Jacqueline's memories and black-and-white photos, Anne Frank will come to life and continue to be remembered. I would recommend this book since it is a very well beautiful memoir about their friendship and how much the Holocaust has changed and affected it. This can be read as a spice of work that can help readers to understand the struggles and seriousness of the damages that the Holocaust causes on Jewish at the time.

[12laud · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet, story about Anne Frank's lives before she goes into hiding. Offers readers of what Anne is like in day to day life , particularly her passion for life. Overall, its a rather easy read, a nice addition if you have read Anne Frank's Diary.
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE READ ANNE FRANK'S DIARY
YOU WILL NEED THE CONTEXT

Like anne frank's diary, it is written by the point of view of a young girl, although not anne her self, the overall tone of the story is rather sweet. Compared to Anee franks diary, I would say that this book is more of a historical fiction that gives more context about the world at the time.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book was best friends with Anne Frank. This book recounts their friendship, Jacqueline's experiences during the war and Jacqueline's relationship with Anne's father after the war.
It has been a long time since I have read The Diary of Anne Frank, but it was interesting to get a new perspective on that story.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by friend of Anne (duh) -- very interesting take on her life and disappearance and this child's perspective of the war and aftermath. I could have done with a few more details so maybe some day I'll read some of her other books. Painted a vivid and painful picture of what life was like in Netherlands during WWII -- spoiler alert - it was NOT good.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with my 11 year-old in preparation for a trip to the Anne Frank house this summer. It was a perfect introduction to the difficult subject matter for a child--historically accurate, but not overly graphic. It was a great springboard for some of the first conversations we've had about the holocaust.

[Gloria Linkiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biographical Nonfiction
4th-6th grade reading level
Learning about Anne Frank has always been my favorite. I loved hearing about her struggles and now she grew from them. This book is an amazing story that should be read at any point in your journey of live.

[Evelyn Kuzminski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting and heart-touching perspective on Anne Frank's story.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating accompaniment to the story of Anne Frank's Diary. Another fascinating life forever changed by the events of the 40s. A quick read, but an important voice in history.

[Jessica Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fast read. I really enjoyed this book. Getting to read about those who where close to Anne. And what happened to them before and after the war. This is a book that I will recommend.

[Blake Markwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good book in general I seem to like some Of these books

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very fast read, at I believe it's aimed at a young audience. A good companion read to the Anne Frank diary, while also describing Jacqueline's own experiences.

[Kaitlyn Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ISN'T my final review, this was my review for the first fifty pages... (So far this book is about Anne Franks Bestfriend Jacqueline, and her friendship with Anne. The book had a long preface and just recently got into their relationship and how close they became. I'm on page 52, chapter three.)

FINAL REVIEW-
This novel was a memoir of Jacqueline Van Maarsen, Anne Franks best friend. In this book, it really brings you to almost a personal level of knowledge of Anne. Jacqueline discusses details and stories of Monopoly Games, gossiping on the roof terrace, Anne's extreme Confidence, and Jacqueline's own experiences with Anne, and also her experiences during the war. The story was written by someone, who used all of Jacqueline's quote to make it as one big story. In the end of the book, it tells how the annex is now a museum and the end result of all their family, and what Jacqueline, Her husband Ruud, and Otto Frank, had done after the war. Whether it be talks about Anne, and the Holocaust, or writing/Publishing books.
My personal opinion was that I loved it, This book created that personal connection with a strong World War Two icon. It was also refreshing to see and Book with a Female protagonist, since that didn't occur often back then. You could read the full letters she wrote to Jacqueline, even a few of her own diary entries, this places a personal contact, and eliminates the feeling of it being second or third person. The authors purpose was to bring something she'd always found intriguing and bring it to others attention, in the beginning of the book the author discusses how she was star-struck to meet Jacqueline, since she'd grown up with a love for Anne. The theme of the novel is to educate on the lighter side of Anne's life, not all of the doom and gloom of hiding. Anne was in fact and bright, confident young lady; "Anne and her father were optimists and very outgoing, very friendly with everyone they met." said Jacqueline(pg. 66) whose life was dramatically cut short due to superiority. This book highlighted many positives and gave you a sense of Anne's life before the war. Many books on Anne highlight her days during the war, this novel shines light on who she really was, and that's what I believe makes this book good.

[Maya Ochoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone knows the story of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who kept a diary while in hiding from the from the Nazis in the Second World War. But this book tells a story of a courageous young girl named Jacqueline. Her story is very different from Anne's however. Coming from Jewish descent from only one side of her family, her mom did everything that she could to prove that Jacqueline and her sister were not Jewish. This worked and Jacqueline and her family had a very difficult time living during the war as they were constantly hungry and in fear. This book tells the story of their friendship, and how the war separated them and the fame of Anne's diary brought them back together.

One thing that I liked about the book was how is was told from a different point of view. Seeing Anne from the outside in was a refreshing and help me understand who Anne really was. She was a very outgoing and talkative person, but sometimes be vain or show jealousy. They do say sometimes other people know us better than we know ourselves.


Another thing that I liked about the book was the close calls with Nazis, the author really paints a meaningful picture in your head on what is was like to live during this dark time. I particularly liked these parts because it gave you a feeling of suspense, and you never knew if she was going to get caught and sent out to camps. It was very interesting to hear the far in her words as she tells her stories.

[Susan Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is so sad! The author was best friends with Anne Frank growing up (Jopie in the diary). The book describes their friendship, and what life was like in Amsterdam and how it slowly changed as their country was taken over by the Nazis. Suddenly everyday activities like going to school, swimming at the local pool, or getting a treat at the ice cream parlor were all declared off limits. Jews had to go to separate schools and shop at separate stores. It was a scary time, but Anne and Jackie and their families coped as best they could. One Sunday the two had made plans to to get together, and when Jacqueline gave Ann a call that afternoon Anne said couldn't talk right then. She said she'd call back, but Jacqueline never heard from her friend again.... Everyone assumed the family had fled to neutral Switzerland, where they had friends. Little did Jackie know that Anne was still close by. Jackie spent the rest of the war watching more and more friends disappear, but always hoped that she and Anne would be reunited after the war. This version of Jacqueline's adult book has been retold for children, and would be appropriate for upper elementary readers.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Friend Called Anne," was a book about the Holocaust. The author of this book is actually the main character her name is Jacqueline Van Maarsen who was the legendary, Anne Frank's best friend. In the book the author talks about how it was in the Netherlands being a Jew and under Hitler's control.

In the book there were some parts that I liked and some that I disliked. The only thing that I didn't like in this book was all of the sad parts that I knew were true because they were so sad. For example, what they did to all of the Jews at the camps. But what I really liked was that it was a real story told by someone who lived in that time so I felt like I was there.

The people that I would recommend this too are kids that like real stories and and want to learn about history in a story. They would enjoy this because it's not super informative but it is at the same time. It isn't giving you a lesson but it it is and it is more of a story than anything. I really loved this book and recommend it to anyone who loves history and stories.

[Juliana T · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book A Friend Called Anne, written by Jacqueline Van Maarsen, was a very good book! This book was very well written. I was very entertained by this book.

This book take place in the Holocaust, it was from 1940 to 1945. A Friend Called Anne, was a very involved book. What I mean by that is, is that there was a lot going on at once. I enjoyed how you would have to keep up with all the people in the book.

The characteristics of the book were, funny, entertaining, and it was also a sad book unfortunately. It was sad because the Nazi's were taking Jews to concentration camps and putting them in gas chambers, and thy were beating them very harshly and sometimes killing them.

My personal recommendation for the audience for this book would probably be someone who would be able to concentrate on a book for a while. This book is for someone who likes learn about history. I personally loved this book and would read it again in my spare time.