Anne Frank

Rookie Biography

by Wil Mara

A short biography of the Jewish girl whose diary bacame famous.

Genres: Childrens, Jewish

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Wil Mara has worked as an author for over 34 years and currently has more than 325 books in print. He has written both fiction and nonfiction, for children and adults. His books have won multiple awards, reached bestseller lists, earned excellent reviews, and been translated into more than a dozen languages. 2005’s Wave won the New Jersey Notable Book Award, and 2012’s The Gemini Virus remained on Amazon’s list of ‘Ten Bestseller Medical Thrillers’ for 14 consecutive weeks. The most recent novel in his disaster series, Fallout, was nominated for the Edgar Award for Novel of the Year. And his children’s nonfiction publications have won countless awards and terrific reviews in all the leading trade journals, including Booklist, School Library Journal, Kirkus, and others.

Much of his work for children has been nonfiction for the school-library market. He also ghostwrote five of the popular ‘Boxcar Children’ mysteries. And starting in 2019, Rosen Publishing released the first of his new ‘Twisted’ series, which has been described as “Twilight Zones for kids.” It became the most pre-ordered fiction series in the company’s history. The first ‘Twisted’ book, The Videomaniac, was released on January 1 and sold through its first printing in less than a month. The second, House of a Million Rooms, was released on March 1 and, just a few weeks later, was chosen as a Main Selection Title by the Junior Library Guild.

Wil was also an editor, administrator, and executive inside the industry for over 20 years, working for such houses as Scholastic, McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, and Prentice-Hall until turning to fulltime writing in 2005. He is an associate member of the NJASL and an executive member of the Board of Directors for the New Jersey Center for the Book, which is an affiliate of the US Library of Congress. He is also the vice president of the Literary Alliance of New Jersey, the host of the ‘Voice of American Libraries’ podcast, and the 2019 recipient of the Literary Lion of New Jersey Award, whose past winners include Gus Friedrich, Dean Emeritus of Rutgers University, and Joyce Carol Oates, National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Wil is also an experienced speaker, presenter, and voice artist, having visited more than 300 schools and other institutions, and done the audio readings for many books, including his 2012 thriller The Gemini Virus. He continues to speak to audiences across the country (including via video) and do voice work as his writing schedule permits.

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book I read when I was younger

[Sarah Rostkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Frank would be for a first or second grader to read. Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929. And her family was Jewish. A group called the Nazis had totally controll over the Jews to the point to where they told them to live. But Anne and her family moved to the Netherlands to get away from the Nazis. But the Nazis took control of the Netherlands too. The Franks went to hide from the Nazis in Amsterdam,they lived in a serect room where her father once worked. They hid behind a book self,the bookself covered the hole of their secret room. They had other Jews living with them it wasnt just their family. While she was in hiding from the Nazis Anne began to write a diary and she wrote about her feelings and thoughts of the Nazis. The Nazis did find out about their hiding place behind the bookself and took them to a concentration camp and the family was treated very badly. Anne got very sick while in the concetration camp and she died there.

This book wouldnt hold the attention of a child. The pictures are black and white,hard to tell what they look like. And its hard to understand if you were 6 or 7

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. This book has not received an award.
2. The appropriate grade level is first to third grade.
3. This book talks about Anne Frank and her family as they tried to escape from the Nazis. It includes when they moved to Amsterdam, used to hide behind in secret rooms behind a bookshelf, and when Anne wrote a diary of how she felt and what she dealt with during this hard time.
4. This book uses very kid-friendly words to best describe what Anne dealt with during the Holocaust. The pictures showed what life was like for Anne; there are pictures of Hitler leading the Nazis, a bookshelf which led to secret rooms, concentration camps, and more.
5. a) An in-class use would be to describe how people in different areas were treated.
b) Another use would be to read this book as an introduction of the Holocaust in Social Studies.
c) The student can also learn what a diary is and have their own to write private thoughts.

[Angela Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

(KidLit ED204 category: biography)
"Anne Frank" by Wil Mara is a very nice book for teachers or parents wanting their children to learn about the history of Anne Frank, the Holocaust and Nazi Germany.
This is not a sugar coated version of Anne Frank's story, but definitely appropriate for a younger age group. The use of actual photographs helps bring the story to life.
Even though this is a difficult subject to talk about, I like that Scholastic (the publisher) is willing to approach this subject head-on.

[babyhippoface · Rating 2 out of 5]

The hopeful beginning and tragic ending of the life of holocaust victim Anne Frank is discussed in this title from Scholastic’s Rookie Biography series. Historical photos and straightforward, simple sentences, and the small but detailed index provide the youngest readers with an accessible introduction to biographies and Frank’s life.

[Stephanie Klaren]

This is an easy to read bio about Anne Frank and Germany during the war. This would be a good book for K-2 grades because it explains what happened but in a more kid friendly way.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable biography for beginning readers, appropriate for independent reading