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Annexed
I look out the window into the street...I'm meant to be at Mr. Frank's workplace in a few hours. We're arriving separately, all of is. We'll walk into the building just like it was any other visit - only this time we'll never walk out again.
What was it like hiding in the Annex with Anne Frank? To be with Anne every day while she wrote so passionately in her diary? To be in a secret world within a world at war - alive on the inside, everything dying on the outside?
Peter Van Pels and his family have lost their country, their home, and their freedom, and now they are fighting desperately to remain alive.
Look through Peter's eyes.
He has a story to tell, too.
Are you listening?
What was it like hiding in the Annex with Anne Frank? To be with Anne every day while she wrote so passionately in her diary? To be in a secret world within a world at war - alive on the inside, everything dying on the outside?
Peter Van Pels and his family have lost their country, their home, and their freedom, and now they are fighting desperately to remain alive.
Look through Peter's eyes.
He has a story to tell, too.
Are you listening?
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2010
192 people are currently reading
8469 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Dogar
5 books71 followersSharon Dogar is a social worker who counsels troubled teens.
Waves is her first novel. The poignant coming-of-age story about a family dealing with the accident of their daughter, it took a while for Sharon to get started. "But then I had ‘the moment,' " she explains. "That moment when a character just arrives in your mind and begs to be written - whether you want to do it or not. I remember it was lunchtime. I walked into the sitting room and had a thought: I was by the sea. And in that moment, I saw a boy with his back to me; he was in the kitchen of a beach house, looking at something on the wall. Looking at it with utter intensity and absorption. I knew straight away his name was Hal. I walked back into my own kitchen and wrote the prologue, immediately and completely, exactly as it remained in the final manuscript. And then I had to write a story to go with it!"
Sharon Dogar lives with her husband and three children in Oxford, England.
Waves is her first novel. The poignant coming-of-age story about a family dealing with the accident of their daughter, it took a while for Sharon to get started. "But then I had ‘the moment,' " she explains. "That moment when a character just arrives in your mind and begs to be written - whether you want to do it or not. I remember it was lunchtime. I walked into the sitting room and had a thought: I was by the sea. And in that moment, I saw a boy with his back to me; he was in the kitchen of a beach house, looking at something on the wall. Looking at it with utter intensity and absorption. I knew straight away his name was Hal. I walked back into my own kitchen and wrote the prologue, immediately and completely, exactly as it remained in the final manuscript. And then I had to write a story to go with it!"
Sharon Dogar lives with her husband and three children in Oxford, England.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 780 reviews
June 5, 2010
I'm not sure how to review a book like this. It is an absolutely brilliant book, but certainly not one I can claim to have enjoyed. Who could enjoy such a story? That being said, I consider it one of the best books I have ever read. It is a moving testimony to bravery, pain, suffering and hope. The Holocaust is not a time in history that we want to remember, but it is a time that we cannot let be forgotten. Books like this serve as a reminder of the lowest of humanity...but also the highest. One cannot call Nazis vermin without also naming the Jews heroes.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to be the one you choose to read so you can remember.
The writing is so clear: so simply written and so full of emotion. I feel like I have lost people I know. In many ways, a lot of us know this group: the Frank and Van Pels families. We first learned about their years of hiding in the Annex through Anne Frank's diary. And here, Sharon Dogar takes us on a fictionalized account of Peter's journey.
The best way I can think of to describe the way I felt while reading this book is to say that I feel like I was shoved headfirst into Peter's pensieve. I was an invisible onlooker during every part of his story, from the Annex to Auschwitz. It has been a long time since I have been able to so clearly see a movie version of the story I am reading play in my head. I sure chose a wrenching story to be so immersed in.
Sharon Dogar mastered the ability to shed light on the way Peter must have felt while hiding in the Annex. She described not only the feelings of frustration and and fear and longing for the outside...but all the normal things a teenage boy goes through. She balances them all perfectly and makes Peter really seem like a person. That is what makes reading this book so hard - you are getting to know and love a person that you already know has a horrible fate.
There are so many gripping passages in this book, I could quote all day long. Sometimes it was the expressions of hope and love that were more jarring than the ones of war or fear. Regardless, the voice that Dogar gives her characters will get a grip on you that doesn't let go, even when the story is over.
......................
“I don’t exist anymore. They’ve turned me into a nobody so that they can wipe me off the face of the Earth.”
......................
“Maybe I’m ashamed because it’s hard not to feel ashamed, when just being born is something you can be killed for.”
......................
“I know that sometimes love is as hard to bear as hate, that it can hurt as much.”
......................
“Even if you replace my name with a number, give me no spoon to eat with, or clothes, or shoes to walk in – so that I am forced to live and eat like one. I am not an animal.”
......................
“No, I was not hungry. Hungry is a word that you can understand. This hunger is not in my stomach, it is in my skin – my bones. If you cut my legs off they would walk toward a bowl of soup without me.”
......................
This is a book that should be read.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough to be the one you choose to read so you can remember.
The writing is so clear: so simply written and so full of emotion. I feel like I have lost people I know. In many ways, a lot of us know this group: the Frank and Van Pels families. We first learned about their years of hiding in the Annex through Anne Frank's diary. And here, Sharon Dogar takes us on a fictionalized account of Peter's journey.
The best way I can think of to describe the way I felt while reading this book is to say that I feel like I was shoved headfirst into Peter's pensieve. I was an invisible onlooker during every part of his story, from the Annex to Auschwitz. It has been a long time since I have been able to so clearly see a movie version of the story I am reading play in my head. I sure chose a wrenching story to be so immersed in.
Sharon Dogar mastered the ability to shed light on the way Peter must have felt while hiding in the Annex. She described not only the feelings of frustration and and fear and longing for the outside...but all the normal things a teenage boy goes through. She balances them all perfectly and makes Peter really seem like a person. That is what makes reading this book so hard - you are getting to know and love a person that you already know has a horrible fate.
There are so many gripping passages in this book, I could quote all day long. Sometimes it was the expressions of hope and love that were more jarring than the ones of war or fear. Regardless, the voice that Dogar gives her characters will get a grip on you that doesn't let go, even when the story is over.
......................
“I don’t exist anymore. They’ve turned me into a nobody so that they can wipe me off the face of the Earth.”
......................
“Maybe I’m ashamed because it’s hard not to feel ashamed, when just being born is something you can be killed for.”
......................
“I know that sometimes love is as hard to bear as hate, that it can hurt as much.”
......................
“Even if you replace my name with a number, give me no spoon to eat with, or clothes, or shoes to walk in – so that I am forced to live and eat like one. I am not an animal.”
......................
“No, I was not hungry. Hungry is a word that you can understand. This hunger is not in my stomach, it is in my skin – my bones. If you cut my legs off they would walk toward a bowl of soup without me.”
......................
This is a book that should be read.
June 30, 2010
I'll start with a disclaimer: I think I was in entirely the wrong frame of mind while reading this book, so in the interest of fairness, some of my issues with it might very well be just my issues.
That said, I think this was a failed attempt to add something that The Diary of a Young Girl was never missing. Part of the impact of reading Anne's diary is that we don't get to meet the other people hiding in the Annex other than through her eyes. They were systematically murdered during the most horrifying events of the last hundred years, and the senselessness and the waste of human life is supposed to come across by the way Anne's diary just ends. There is no more, because these people didn't make it.
I've read a lot of books about Anne Frank and the others who hid with her, but this is the first foray into fiction that I've encountered. And the exposition was awkward, the story was disjointed, and nothing new was added to the story of the Franks and the van Pels.
People would be far better served to read Anne Frank's diary and not bother with this one.
That said, I think this was a failed attempt to add something that The Diary of a Young Girl was never missing. Part of the impact of reading Anne's diary is that we don't get to meet the other people hiding in the Annex other than through her eyes. They were systematically murdered during the most horrifying events of the last hundred years, and the senselessness and the waste of human life is supposed to come across by the way Anne's diary just ends. There is no more, because these people didn't make it.
I've read a lot of books about Anne Frank and the others who hid with her, but this is the first foray into fiction that I've encountered. And the exposition was awkward, the story was disjointed, and nothing new was added to the story of the Franks and the van Pels.
People would be far better served to read Anne Frank's diary and not bother with this one.
August 7, 2012
Se há temática que gosto muito de ler é o holocausto. "O diário de Anne Frank" é um dos meus livros favoritos e mudou a minha vida para sempre, "O Longo Inverno" de Ruta Sepetys e "O Rapaz do Pijama às Riscas" idem aspas aspas e mal vi a sinopse de "No Anexo" de Sharon Dogar, sabia que iria enventualmente querer ler aquele livro. E sabia que iria gostar e como raramente os meus gostos me enganam, posso dizer que adorei ler este livro.
Este livro não é totalmente real, sendo ficcional alguns detalhes, mas nem o facto de ser "inventado" tira mérito ao livro. Practicamente todos conhecem a história de Anne Frank e dos Franks. Mas e a outra família que vivia escondida, num armazém em Amersterdão? É sobre o Pels que a autora Sharon Dogar se debruça neste maravilhoso livro, contando-nos a história dos dois anos passados no anexo, escondidos dos nazis,relatado por Peter, um adolescente judeu.
A par dos relatos do sofrimento que as duas famílias viviam naquela altura, o ponto alto do livro é o suposto romance que Anne e Peter viveram durante os anos de convívio. De um mútuo desprezo no início do livro, passamos para uma amizade claustofóbrica e a um amor furtivo entre estes jovens. E eu adorei este romance proibido, escondido dos olhos de todos, um romance tão único entre duas personagens extraordinárias que só queriam ser livres.
Aconselho todos a lerem este testemunho fascinante!
Este livro não é totalmente real, sendo ficcional alguns detalhes, mas nem o facto de ser "inventado" tira mérito ao livro. Practicamente todos conhecem a história de Anne Frank e dos Franks. Mas e a outra família que vivia escondida, num armazém em Amersterdão? É sobre o Pels que a autora Sharon Dogar se debruça neste maravilhoso livro, contando-nos a história dos dois anos passados no anexo, escondidos dos nazis,relatado por Peter, um adolescente judeu.
A par dos relatos do sofrimento que as duas famílias viviam naquela altura, o ponto alto do livro é o suposto romance que Anne e Peter viveram durante os anos de convívio. De um mútuo desprezo no início do livro, passamos para uma amizade claustofóbrica e a um amor furtivo entre estes jovens. E eu adorei este romance proibido, escondido dos olhos de todos, um romance tão único entre duas personagens extraordinárias que só queriam ser livres.
Aconselho todos a lerem este testemunho fascinante!
December 26, 2014
Annexed was a bold undertaking. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl is a pretty sacred Holocaust memoir. To explore Peter's point of view in a novel constitutes a huge literary risk. On some levels, it paid off. But, as you'll notice throughout this review, this book raised a lot of questions for me.
The novel introduces Liese, Peter's fictional first girlfriend and a personification of his sexual awakening. He longs for her while trapped in the annex, and the narrative does not shy away from some of his more "vivid" dreams of her. Was she necessary? It's hard to say. In all likelihood, Peter would have had to grapple with teenage hormones while confined in close quarters with so many other people. Is it fair to put words in his mouth and thoughts in his head, to take creative license with a real person's private thoughts, though? I'll leave that one to the biographical literary critics. The fictional Liese was effective in her role here, driving home just how much Peter was missing while cooped up in the annex.
It was the interactions between Peter and Anne that felt a bit off to me. Anne came off as rather daft when seen through his eyes. I never got that impression of her from the diary, but I also read it twice when I was a teenager, when I was around her age. We know from the diaries that Anne saw the beauty in many things, but Peter's point of view made her appear annoyingly optimistic. In this regard, I felt that the book sometimes missed the mark when it came to characterizing Anne. She was a teenager, yes, but was she really that spoiled, careless, flirtatious, annoyingly optimistic, etc.? Would she and Peter really have been that frank with one another about sex? I feel like I need to reread the diary now to make a fair evaluation of this book.
In some scenes, Peter asks Anne not to write about something in her diary. This feels like a cop-out, a way to introduce fictional conversations and events into a true story chronicled quite closely in a daily diary.
The most poignant part of the book was, for the most part, pure fiction. In Part II, which doesn't begin until close to the end, we experience the concentration camp through Peter's eyes. Dogar tells us in the epilogue that she has constructed this section from secondhand accounts and pure imagination. Again, this proves effective. Part II does a good job (arguably, too good a job) of depicting the concentration camp experience. Dogar also provides a nice reading list at the back of the book for further study (I've already put the Five Chimneys memoir on hold at the library).
A side note: I wasn't a huge fan of the chapter headings in this book. They were rather dry (e.g., "Peter feels hope," "Peter wants Anne, Anne wants to write," "Anne and Peter are in his bedroom," etc.). Because they are so straightforward (essentially one-line chapter summaries), they don't add much to the narrative.
I'm the rare reader who actually enjoys present-tense narratives, and I understood why it was necessary here. Because the novel merges Peter's present-tense life in the annex with his past-tense reminiscences while in the concentration camp, uniformity of verb tense isn't really possible. My only stylistic complaint was that the writing felt a bit staccato. Lots of sentence fragments. One-sentence paragraphs. A disproportionate number of simple sentences. This was effective in times of suspense, but sometimes made it difficult to connect with Peter during more contemplative moments in the story.
Overall, I give this book points for bravery. It does read somewhat like fan fiction at points (an inevitable danger in any creative nonfiction/historical fiction novel) and sometimes stumbles in the execution. But it is also a nice attempt to lend voice to a figure who, across the decades, has remained secondary to the story. And there can never be too many novels to remind us of what people are capable of doing to one another.
(Disclaimer: I received the galley proofs of this title from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review.)
The novel introduces Liese, Peter's fictional first girlfriend and a personification of his sexual awakening. He longs for her while trapped in the annex, and the narrative does not shy away from some of his more "vivid" dreams of her. Was she necessary? It's hard to say. In all likelihood, Peter would have had to grapple with teenage hormones while confined in close quarters with so many other people. Is it fair to put words in his mouth and thoughts in his head, to take creative license with a real person's private thoughts, though? I'll leave that one to the biographical literary critics. The fictional Liese was effective in her role here, driving home just how much Peter was missing while cooped up in the annex.
It was the interactions between Peter and Anne that felt a bit off to me. Anne came off as rather daft when seen through his eyes. I never got that impression of her from the diary, but I also read it twice when I was a teenager, when I was around her age. We know from the diaries that Anne saw the beauty in many things, but Peter's point of view made her appear annoyingly optimistic. In this regard, I felt that the book sometimes missed the mark when it came to characterizing Anne. She was a teenager, yes, but was she really that spoiled, careless, flirtatious, annoyingly optimistic, etc.? Would she and Peter really have been that frank with one another about sex? I feel like I need to reread the diary now to make a fair evaluation of this book.
In some scenes, Peter asks Anne not to write about something in her diary. This feels like a cop-out, a way to introduce fictional conversations and events into a true story chronicled quite closely in a daily diary.
The most poignant part of the book was, for the most part, pure fiction. In Part II, which doesn't begin until close to the end, we experience the concentration camp through Peter's eyes. Dogar tells us in the epilogue that she has constructed this section from secondhand accounts and pure imagination. Again, this proves effective. Part II does a good job (arguably, too good a job) of depicting the concentration camp experience. Dogar also provides a nice reading list at the back of the book for further study (I've already put the Five Chimneys memoir on hold at the library).
A side note: I wasn't a huge fan of the chapter headings in this book. They were rather dry (e.g., "Peter feels hope," "Peter wants Anne, Anne wants to write," "Anne and Peter are in his bedroom," etc.). Because they are so straightforward (essentially one-line chapter summaries), they don't add much to the narrative.
I'm the rare reader who actually enjoys present-tense narratives, and I understood why it was necessary here. Because the novel merges Peter's present-tense life in the annex with his past-tense reminiscences while in the concentration camp, uniformity of verb tense isn't really possible. My only stylistic complaint was that the writing felt a bit staccato. Lots of sentence fragments. One-sentence paragraphs. A disproportionate number of simple sentences. This was effective in times of suspense, but sometimes made it difficult to connect with Peter during more contemplative moments in the story.
Overall, I give this book points for bravery. It does read somewhat like fan fiction at points (an inevitable danger in any creative nonfiction/historical fiction novel) and sometimes stumbles in the execution. But it is also a nice attempt to lend voice to a figure who, across the decades, has remained secondary to the story. And there can never be too many novels to remind us of what people are capable of doing to one another.
(Disclaimer: I received the galley proofs of this title from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review.)
October 7, 2025
A minha opinião em vídeo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7K5n...
Este livro é uma mistura entre ficção e realidade, narrado pelo ponto de vista do Peter, o rapaz que viveu escondido com Anne Frank e a família. A autora baseou-se em depoimentos reais e no diário da Anne, e isso sente-se — o livro tem alma documental. Mas aviso já: quase todo o meio da narrativa é passado dentro do anexo, e para quem conhece bem a história da Anne Frank, essa parte pode tornar-se repetitiva.
No fim, o livro emociona e deixa aquela sensação amarga, mas necessária, que só as boas leituras sobre o Holocausto provocam. Um fecho bonito para o projeto #Hol72.
Este livro é uma mistura entre ficção e realidade, narrado pelo ponto de vista do Peter, o rapaz que viveu escondido com Anne Frank e a família. A autora baseou-se em depoimentos reais e no diário da Anne, e isso sente-se — o livro tem alma documental. Mas aviso já: quase todo o meio da narrativa é passado dentro do anexo, e para quem conhece bem a história da Anne Frank, essa parte pode tornar-se repetitiva.
No fim, o livro emociona e deixa aquela sensação amarga, mas necessária, que só as boas leituras sobre o Holocausto provocam. Um fecho bonito para o projeto #Hol72.
October 15, 2010
This book is possibly the most intense book I have read that wasn't required reading for school. I admire and appreciate the writing and the author's knowledge of the subject, but I can't say that this book was for me.
I would like to address two of the criticisms of the book that I've seen in the media. First, some feel that the author shouldn't have touched Anne's story. I don't agree with this at all. The book respectfully takes another angle on Anne's story and shows her in a different light. To me, this is the same as a producer would do with a movie version of her life. She's telling the story in a different way while being respectful to the true original story.
Secondly, some feel this story is too "sexed up." Any of the so called sex scenes are fantasies which is understandable coming from a teenage boys point of view. I admit, the fantasies gave me the heebie jeebies a little, since I'm not a teenage boy, but I certainly don't think the author should change anything. That's how she chose to tell the story and it fits with her point of view. In no way do I feel it's disrespectful to the Anne story, I just didn't personally like reading it.
This story is intense, the book chronicles not only Peter's time in the annex, but also his time at Auschwitz and the prologue is a scene in the sick bay as he's waiting to die. The author has a very poetic way of writing that makes the haunting events really get under the reader's skin.
This story is not for the faint of heart and I recommend this one only to those who think they are up to it.
book sent for review by publicist
reviewed for http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com
I would like to address two of the criticisms of the book that I've seen in the media. First, some feel that the author shouldn't have touched Anne's story. I don't agree with this at all. The book respectfully takes another angle on Anne's story and shows her in a different light. To me, this is the same as a producer would do with a movie version of her life. She's telling the story in a different way while being respectful to the true original story.
Secondly, some feel this story is too "sexed up." Any of the so called sex scenes are fantasies which is understandable coming from a teenage boys point of view. I admit, the fantasies gave me the heebie jeebies a little, since I'm not a teenage boy, but I certainly don't think the author should change anything. That's how she chose to tell the story and it fits with her point of view. In no way do I feel it's disrespectful to the Anne story, I just didn't personally like reading it.
This story is intense, the book chronicles not only Peter's time in the annex, but also his time at Auschwitz and the prologue is a scene in the sick bay as he's waiting to die. The author has a very poetic way of writing that makes the haunting events really get under the reader's skin.
This story is not for the faint of heart and I recommend this one only to those who think they are up to it.
book sent for review by publicist
reviewed for http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com
April 6, 2016
I liked this account from Peter's perspective of their time in the Annex! It was really eye-opening, and probably true: those hours of boringness, yet those seconds of complete terror that make you long for the boringness once more. I like how Peter even still loved Leise, right through it all, and that he couldn't forget her. I kind of feel like he didn't regret what he didn't do enough, but what could he have done? I can't even begin to imagine the hardship and struggle the Jews went through in the concentration camps. I am so glad that Otto survived and that we now have Anne Frank's Diary to read about what it was like. I pray to God that it never happens again. The world would not allow it, we could not survive it.
August 28, 2017
Adorei completamente este livro!
Nas primeiras páginas, o Peter só me dava raiva porque só andava com as hormonas aos saltos. Lá está é tipico da adolescência... o livro deu uma reviravolta imensa e fiquei completamente rendida.
Recomendo vivamente para quem gostar de livros com a temática do holocausto. :)
Nas primeiras páginas, o Peter só me dava raiva porque só andava com as hormonas aos saltos. Lá está é tipico da adolescência... o livro deu uma reviravolta imensa e fiquei completamente rendida.
Recomendo vivamente para quem gostar de livros com a temática do holocausto. :)
October 14, 2012
Sharon Dogar é além de escritora, com três obras da sua autoria dirigidas a jovens-adultos publicadas, psicoterapeuta de crianças. Teve a possibilidade de ler ”O Diário de Anne Frank” quando pequena e mais tarde através da sua filha, que lhe recordou que vários eram os aspectos que tinham ficado em aberto no diário desta menina, especialmente no que dizia respeito a Peter, que compartilhou os dias com ela no anexo em que estavam escondidos.
Nunca tive a possibilidade de ler “O Diário de Anne Frank”. Como sucede à maioria, conheço a história, pois quando se fala desta época da História é das primeiras narrativas que assaltam à nossa memória e que mencionamos, tendo também conhecimento da adaptação cinematográfica. Contudo, a experiência é sempre outra quando embrenhamos na obra, ainda para mais sendo uma história verídica, contada na primeira pessoa.
Possivelmente deveria ter lido “No Anexo” depois da obra da Anne, contudo estava bastante curiosa com este volume, especialmente por ser uma época que gosto bastante de ler, embora me deixe sempre com um certo sentimento de tristeza e raiva. Não me arrependo de forma alguma por ter lido este volume, pois foi uma surpresa muito boa.
Antes de se dar início à obra somos apresentados a um prólogo, escrito pela autora, que nos contextualiza sobre a história de Anne e o final da segunda guerra mundial, mostrando-nos também o que levou Sharon a escrever esta obra e os seus objectivos.
Esta obra encontra-se dividida em duas partes. Na primeira somos apresentados às ocorrências no Anexo e na segunda como foi viver nos campos de concentração. Foi interessante poder observar as ocorrências através de Peter, na primeira pessoa, ainda que em parte ficcionalmente, pois permite-nos conhecer melhor os intervenientes e ainda sermos confrontados com os momentos passados depois do anexo.
Gostei bastante dos momentos passados no anexo com Anne, a forma como estes jovens se começaram a relacionar, pois Peter gostava de uma pessoa antes de ser obrigado a esconder-se e não simpatizava muito com Anne. Foi interessante ver o florescer desta amizade, que mais tarde se transformou em algo mais. Na obra de Anne, sei que não nos é dado a conhecer momentos íntimos entre ambos, mas também gosto de pensar que tal terá sucedido. Além dos momentos carinhosos entre estes dois jovens, somos apresentados ao medo e opressão desta época. Era palpável a fome porque passaram e o medo atroz que possuíam de ser descobertos, embora tentassem manter uma vida minimamente normal, em que faziam as suas refeições em conjunto, os mais novos estudavam e os mais velhos realizavam diferentes tarefas que lhes eram destinadas.
As personagens encontram-se muito bem desenvolvidas, bastante humanizadas e os seus objectivos e ideais deveras transparentes. Sem dúvida, que me senti bastante ligada a Peter primeiramente, por ser o nosso narrador, que nos presenteia com pensamentos e diálogos bastante claros, que nos envolvem e com alguns desenhos que nos fascinam. Mais tarde também nos sentimos arrebatados com Anne, que tal como sucede com Peter, primeiro observamos com alguma estranheza, mas mais tarde com fascínio.
Relativamente à segunda parte, embora tenha sido grande parte ficcional, pois são poucos os dados que existem sobre o que sucedeu a Peter depois de sair do Anexo, foram escritos tendo como base todos os dados documentados sobre a altura. O que era realizado aos judeus que se encontravam no campo de concentração para onde Peter, o seu pai e o pai de Anne foram enviados. Tenho de confessar que esta parte da obra me emocionou profundamente, pelos questionamentos de Peter, que tenho quase a certeza que têm o seu fundo de verdade, mas pior, por tudo o que ele passou e foi obrigado a fazer de modo a sobreviver.
Numa escrita simples, ou não fosse narrada na primeira pessoa por um jovem, mas repleta de emoções, Sharon Dogar apresenta-nos nesta obra ficcional, o que foi viver com Anne, conhecer e aprender a amar alguém de quem inicialmente não gostava, a ser enviado para um dos campos de concentração mais cruéis da altura. Neste volume somos apresentados a várias realidades, ao florescer da amizade, ao amor juvenil, mas sobretudo à luta pela sobrevivência e à necessidade de procurar a felicidade.
“No Anexo” foi uma obra que me deu um prazer enorme de ler, que me fez sorrir com os momentos ternurentos vividos entre Anne e Peter e emocionar-me com os momentos atrozes que inúmeras pessoas tiveram de atravessar, devido aos ideais de um homem horrível. Sem dúvida, que recomendo esta obra que tanto me disse.
(http://magia-livros.blogspot.pt/2012/...)
Nunca tive a possibilidade de ler “O Diário de Anne Frank”. Como sucede à maioria, conheço a história, pois quando se fala desta época da História é das primeiras narrativas que assaltam à nossa memória e que mencionamos, tendo também conhecimento da adaptação cinematográfica. Contudo, a experiência é sempre outra quando embrenhamos na obra, ainda para mais sendo uma história verídica, contada na primeira pessoa.
Possivelmente deveria ter lido “No Anexo” depois da obra da Anne, contudo estava bastante curiosa com este volume, especialmente por ser uma época que gosto bastante de ler, embora me deixe sempre com um certo sentimento de tristeza e raiva. Não me arrependo de forma alguma por ter lido este volume, pois foi uma surpresa muito boa.
Antes de se dar início à obra somos apresentados a um prólogo, escrito pela autora, que nos contextualiza sobre a história de Anne e o final da segunda guerra mundial, mostrando-nos também o que levou Sharon a escrever esta obra e os seus objectivos.
Esta obra encontra-se dividida em duas partes. Na primeira somos apresentados às ocorrências no Anexo e na segunda como foi viver nos campos de concentração. Foi interessante poder observar as ocorrências através de Peter, na primeira pessoa, ainda que em parte ficcionalmente, pois permite-nos conhecer melhor os intervenientes e ainda sermos confrontados com os momentos passados depois do anexo.
Gostei bastante dos momentos passados no anexo com Anne, a forma como estes jovens se começaram a relacionar, pois Peter gostava de uma pessoa antes de ser obrigado a esconder-se e não simpatizava muito com Anne. Foi interessante ver o florescer desta amizade, que mais tarde se transformou em algo mais. Na obra de Anne, sei que não nos é dado a conhecer momentos íntimos entre ambos, mas também gosto de pensar que tal terá sucedido. Além dos momentos carinhosos entre estes dois jovens, somos apresentados ao medo e opressão desta época. Era palpável a fome porque passaram e o medo atroz que possuíam de ser descobertos, embora tentassem manter uma vida minimamente normal, em que faziam as suas refeições em conjunto, os mais novos estudavam e os mais velhos realizavam diferentes tarefas que lhes eram destinadas.
As personagens encontram-se muito bem desenvolvidas, bastante humanizadas e os seus objectivos e ideais deveras transparentes. Sem dúvida, que me senti bastante ligada a Peter primeiramente, por ser o nosso narrador, que nos presenteia com pensamentos e diálogos bastante claros, que nos envolvem e com alguns desenhos que nos fascinam. Mais tarde também nos sentimos arrebatados com Anne, que tal como sucede com Peter, primeiro observamos com alguma estranheza, mas mais tarde com fascínio.
Relativamente à segunda parte, embora tenha sido grande parte ficcional, pois são poucos os dados que existem sobre o que sucedeu a Peter depois de sair do Anexo, foram escritos tendo como base todos os dados documentados sobre a altura. O que era realizado aos judeus que se encontravam no campo de concentração para onde Peter, o seu pai e o pai de Anne foram enviados. Tenho de confessar que esta parte da obra me emocionou profundamente, pelos questionamentos de Peter, que tenho quase a certeza que têm o seu fundo de verdade, mas pior, por tudo o que ele passou e foi obrigado a fazer de modo a sobreviver.
Numa escrita simples, ou não fosse narrada na primeira pessoa por um jovem, mas repleta de emoções, Sharon Dogar apresenta-nos nesta obra ficcional, o que foi viver com Anne, conhecer e aprender a amar alguém de quem inicialmente não gostava, a ser enviado para um dos campos de concentração mais cruéis da altura. Neste volume somos apresentados a várias realidades, ao florescer da amizade, ao amor juvenil, mas sobretudo à luta pela sobrevivência e à necessidade de procurar a felicidade.
“No Anexo” foi uma obra que me deu um prazer enorme de ler, que me fez sorrir com os momentos ternurentos vividos entre Anne e Peter e emocionar-me com os momentos atrozes que inúmeras pessoas tiveram de atravessar, devido aos ideais de um homem horrível. Sem dúvida, que recomendo esta obra que tanto me disse.
(http://magia-livros.blogspot.pt/2012/...)
February 27, 2012
Annexed tells the story of Peter Van Pels, the boy who was in hiding with Anne Frank in the secret annex. This book is historical fiction, as the author bases the story on fact and the rest she “imagines”. I had a hard time reading this book. In a way, I feel as though imagining what Peter felt is disrespectful to his memory. Especially because much of what he feels and thinks about in this book is of a sexual nature. One of his main regrets being that he will die without making love to a girl. While Peter was a seventeen-year-old boy, and may have had these feelings, these thoughts are too personal to just assume. I believe the author could have gotten her point across using a fictional character, rather than a real person.
I believe that it is important to write historical fiction that is well researched regarding the topic of the holocaust, I do not know if I agree that imagining the thoughts and feelings of a real person is appropriate. Anne Frank’s dairy is an important literary work, because she really existed. She is an incredibly important historical figure, who wrote honestly about her feelings and her day-to-day life. When reading her diary you feel as though you know her and can relate to her. When I read about her in Annexed I felt as though she were fictional, because the events that Dogar “imagines” most likely did not actually happen.
Although this book is well written, and the author seems to have done her homework. I would not use this book to teach about the holocaust. There are many other well researched books that give insight into the tragic events that occurred.
I believe that it is important to write historical fiction that is well researched regarding the topic of the holocaust, I do not know if I agree that imagining the thoughts and feelings of a real person is appropriate. Anne Frank’s dairy is an important literary work, because she really existed. She is an incredibly important historical figure, who wrote honestly about her feelings and her day-to-day life. When reading her diary you feel as though you know her and can relate to her. When I read about her in Annexed I felt as though she were fictional, because the events that Dogar “imagines” most likely did not actually happen.
Although this book is well written, and the author seems to have done her homework. I would not use this book to teach about the holocaust. There are many other well researched books that give insight into the tragic events that occurred.
February 3, 2017
“Maybe i'm ashamed because it's hard not to feel ashamed, when just being born is something you can be killed for.”
I’ve never read Anne Frank’s Diary, but knowing that this book is based on people who actually existed and suffered so much is really awful.
Reading about the WWII is absolutly nerve-wracking and deeply sorrowing, but it is also important once it reminds us of what may happen when we think that we are superior to others and because of that we freely discriminate and look down against them.
June 11, 2010
Were you assigned Diary of A Young Girl in school? If not, I am willing to bet you know who Anne Frank was and all about the annex. We all know Anne's ultimate fate,but it doesn't make her diary any less touching. Knowing the ending doesn't detract from the emotional impact.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
September 15, 2014
Para mim, este livro tem pontos a favor e contra.
A favor tem o tema, porque nunca se escreverá demais sobre o holocausto.
Gostei da personagem principal, e de “assistir” ao seu enamoramento por Anne, como uma forma de manter a esperança e o sonho de sobreviver.
Gostei da parte final muito comovente e quase poética.
Não gostei da técnica de escrita, com frases demasiado curtas. Trata-se de um romance, não de um telegrama.
Detestei a repetição permanente da frase: “Assinto com a cabeça.” Há uma página em que essa expressão aparece 5 vezes.
Mas, tirando as frases curtas e o uso excessivo do verbo assentir, que me “obriga” a dar-lhe 3*, é um livro que recomendo.
A favor tem o tema, porque nunca se escreverá demais sobre o holocausto.
Gostei da personagem principal, e de “assistir” ao seu enamoramento por Anne, como uma forma de manter a esperança e o sonho de sobreviver.
Gostei da parte final muito comovente e quase poética.
Não gostei da técnica de escrita, com frases demasiado curtas. Trata-se de um romance, não de um telegrama.
Detestei a repetição permanente da frase: “Assinto com a cabeça.” Há uma página em que essa expressão aparece 5 vezes.
Mas, tirando as frases curtas e o uso excessivo do verbo assentir, que me “obriga” a dar-lhe 3*, é um livro que recomendo.
February 1, 2013
Um livro difícil de ler, pelo seu conteúdo, pela sua história... Li à uns anos anos atrás "O Diário de Anne Frank" e foi um livro que me marcou. Custa muito acreditar na crueldade das pessoas, neste caso não apenas contra uma pessoa mas contra todas as pessoas que acreditavam numa determinada religião. Doi ler estas coisas mas é bom que nos recordemos destas situações para que nunca tornem a acontecer...
Em relação à história em si, não acrescenta nada de novo ao Diário de Anne Frank, a história é a mesma mas vista por outros "olhos", li, sofri, mas não amei...
Em relação à história em si, não acrescenta nada de novo ao Diário de Anne Frank, a história é a mesma mas vista por outros "olhos", li, sofri, mas não amei...
Read
July 19, 2018Sharon Dogar's ANNEXED is an interpretive imagining of Peter van Pels, the sixteen-year-old boy whose family hides with the Frank family and Fritz Pfeffer in a secret annex for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. This fictional account covers the years spent in the annex and his final months spent at Auschwitz and Mauthausen.
With its publication date months away, ANNEXED has received criticism from both the press and blogs for adding a fictionalized sexual dimension to the story of Anne Frank. These sources definitely raise some important questions: Is it necessary to do so? What does this story bring to the account of Anne Frank that Anne's diary does not?
Peter may be designated by the book's subtitle as "the boy who loved Anne Frank," but this book is not a teenage romance insensitively set against a backdrop of genocide. Peter's changing relationship to Anne is a major component of the book, certainly, but it's not what defines Dogar's characterization of Peter.
Getting this out of the way first: there is no sex scene. There is very little that's graphic in the portrayal of Peter's sexuality or the feelings he has for Anne or she for him. It's no more graphic than Anne's musings about menstruation, sex, and her own sexuality in her own diary. Peter privately expresses a repeated worry that he'll never make love to a girl. Peter and Anne kiss and touch rather chastely. Peter feels longing: for Anne, for love, for freedom, for even the smallest forms of empowerment, for the childhood and the life he's being denied but also for adulthood.
Peter's struggle with his identity, and all the different facets of it -- family, faith, culture, nationality, his uncertain future, the dynamic of connection and alienation, his sexual awakening -- is what I found most engaging about the book. Putting together a coherent identity (and learning how to live that identity!) is difficult enough for any sixteen-year-old, but under the crisis of war and genocide, it's an even more intense project. Dogar does a good job with depicting the disparate and conflicted emotions of the teenagers in the book (Peter, Anne, and Margot), all filtered through Peter's eyes, and in this way, it's a mirror of Anne's diary. I was a young teenager when I first read Anne Frank's diary, and I was struck most by how I could see myself and my feelings in Anne and her writing. Anne's honesty about her emotions and her full personhood are so vivid in her diary, and in this novel, Dogar gives the same type of attention to Peter, whose emotional journey intersects Anne's.
The writing is at times stilted and melodramatic, but the poignancy still often shines through. Peter struggles with words, in comparison to the voluble Anne, and the theme of words and their significance is returned to, time and time again, in a thought-provoking way.
So what is the value of ANNEXED, of a fictional interpretation of an already compelling non-fictional account? When what so many people find memorable and poignant about Anne's diary is its honesty and its authenticity, what value is there in a fictionalized companion to it? Even after reading this book, I'm not sure. I would have been equally moved by the story if Peter were a completely fictional character, and as with all historical fiction, I feel dread about the possibility of readers going on to take or to remember this fiction as fact. Dogar seemed to have approached this project with an open heart and sensitivity for the real life tragedy and for the memory of Anne, Peter, and the others, and the story of Anne Frank is a global touchstone for which a wide audience would be interested in reading about further. However, I'm left with the feeling that this piece of fiction didn't necessarily have to be about real life figures, especially as a representative of the Anne Frank Trust has expressed misgivings about the depiction of these people in this book.
ANNEXED will be released in September 2010 in the U.K. and in October 2010 in the U.S.
Note: I read a review copy provided by NetGalley.
On the Controversy: Sharon Dogar fights back over 'sexed up' Anne Frank novel, The Guardian, June 22, 2010
With its publication date months away, ANNEXED has received criticism from both the press and blogs for adding a fictionalized sexual dimension to the story of Anne Frank. These sources definitely raise some important questions: Is it necessary to do so? What does this story bring to the account of Anne Frank that Anne's diary does not?
Peter may be designated by the book's subtitle as "the boy who loved Anne Frank," but this book is not a teenage romance insensitively set against a backdrop of genocide. Peter's changing relationship to Anne is a major component of the book, certainly, but it's not what defines Dogar's characterization of Peter.
Getting this out of the way first: there is no sex scene. There is very little that's graphic in the portrayal of Peter's sexuality or the feelings he has for Anne or she for him. It's no more graphic than Anne's musings about menstruation, sex, and her own sexuality in her own diary. Peter privately expresses a repeated worry that he'll never make love to a girl. Peter and Anne kiss and touch rather chastely. Peter feels longing: for Anne, for love, for freedom, for even the smallest forms of empowerment, for the childhood and the life he's being denied but also for adulthood.
Peter's struggle with his identity, and all the different facets of it -- family, faith, culture, nationality, his uncertain future, the dynamic of connection and alienation, his sexual awakening -- is what I found most engaging about the book. Putting together a coherent identity (and learning how to live that identity!) is difficult enough for any sixteen-year-old, but under the crisis of war and genocide, it's an even more intense project. Dogar does a good job with depicting the disparate and conflicted emotions of the teenagers in the book (Peter, Anne, and Margot), all filtered through Peter's eyes, and in this way, it's a mirror of Anne's diary. I was a young teenager when I first read Anne Frank's diary, and I was struck most by how I could see myself and my feelings in Anne and her writing. Anne's honesty about her emotions and her full personhood are so vivid in her diary, and in this novel, Dogar gives the same type of attention to Peter, whose emotional journey intersects Anne's.
The writing is at times stilted and melodramatic, but the poignancy still often shines through. Peter struggles with words, in comparison to the voluble Anne, and the theme of words and their significance is returned to, time and time again, in a thought-provoking way.
So what is the value of ANNEXED, of a fictional interpretation of an already compelling non-fictional account? When what so many people find memorable and poignant about Anne's diary is its honesty and its authenticity, what value is there in a fictionalized companion to it? Even after reading this book, I'm not sure. I would have been equally moved by the story if Peter were a completely fictional character, and as with all historical fiction, I feel dread about the possibility of readers going on to take or to remember this fiction as fact. Dogar seemed to have approached this project with an open heart and sensitivity for the real life tragedy and for the memory of Anne, Peter, and the others, and the story of Anne Frank is a global touchstone for which a wide audience would be interested in reading about further. However, I'm left with the feeling that this piece of fiction didn't necessarily have to be about real life figures, especially as a representative of the Anne Frank Trust has expressed misgivings about the depiction of these people in this book.
ANNEXED will be released in September 2010 in the U.K. and in October 2010 in the U.S.
Note: I read a review copy provided by NetGalley.
On the Controversy: Sharon Dogar fights back over 'sexed up' Anne Frank novel, The Guardian, June 22, 2010
April 6, 2013
1,5 estrelas
No Anexo traz-nos a história de Peter van Pels e está dividido em duas partes: a primeira é uma espécie de Diário de Anne Frank, mas segundo o POV do Peter e a segunda parte é o relato da sua ‘estadia’ num campo de concentração nazi. Esta é uma história ficcional , baseada em acontecimentos verídicos [esse facto é mencionado logo no Prólogo, o que é óptimo pois não induz ninguém em erro]
E agora vem a parte em que sou insensível: não gostei do livro!
É certo que é baseado em factos reais, que as personagens existiram mesmo, que sofreram horrores inimagináveis [tanto físicos, como psicológicos] mas… adolescentes são sempre adolescentes e a intensidade com que sentem as coisas e o drama que fazem à volta delas é algo que me faz querer puxar pelos cabelos [atenção que não estou a desvalorizar os seus sentimentos. Acredito que sofram e que tenham a alma dilacerada… só que já não tenho paciência para esse tipo de drama, percebem?]. O romance entre Peter e Anne não me convenceu minimamente, acho que se sentiram atraídos única e exclusivamente porque estavam confinados num local muito limitado e as opções eram escassas ou nulas, mas que não chegou a ser amor amor.
"Está aí alguém?", pergunta ele. "Está alguém a ouvir?" a quantidade de vezes que li isto deu-me náuseas. Sim, estou aqui. Sim, estou a ouvir-te raios! Continua… era o que eu pensava. Mais uma prova que sou insensível… o pequeno estava em agonia, provavelmente a delirar um pouco e só queria que alguém o ouvisse e eu reajo desta maneira [shame on me!]
Mas o que mais me deixou triste em relação ao livro foi o facto deste não ter tocado naquela parte de mim que me teria feito sentir o que as personagens sentiram, excepto a claustrofobia [oh, isso eu senti bastante...]. Medo, dor, dúvidas, resignação, determinação em sobreviver… where are you? Os personagens sentiram-nas… e eu fiquei a ver. Estava preparar para chorar mais lágrimas do que as que existem nas Cataratas do Niagara, mas afinal chorei tanto como o Deserto do Saara no pico no Verão.
Atenção que esta é apenas a minha opinião. Estou convicta que os amantes do Diário de Anne Frank e aficcionados da II GM devorarão sofregamente e adorarão cada página deste livro.
Livro lido no Blog Ring, cedido pela Tink! Obrigada*
No Anexo traz-nos a história de Peter van Pels e está dividido em duas partes: a primeira é uma espécie de Diário de Anne Frank, mas segundo o POV do Peter e a segunda parte é o relato da sua ‘estadia’ num campo de concentração nazi. Esta é uma história ficcional , baseada em acontecimentos verídicos [esse facto é mencionado logo no Prólogo, o que é óptimo pois não induz ninguém em erro]
E agora vem a parte em que sou insensível: não gostei do livro!
É certo que é baseado em factos reais, que as personagens existiram mesmo, que sofreram horrores inimagináveis [tanto físicos, como psicológicos] mas… adolescentes são sempre adolescentes e a intensidade com que sentem as coisas e o drama que fazem à volta delas é algo que me faz querer puxar pelos cabelos [atenção que não estou a desvalorizar os seus sentimentos. Acredito que sofram e que tenham a alma dilacerada… só que já não tenho paciência para esse tipo de drama, percebem?]. O romance entre Peter e Anne não me convenceu minimamente, acho que se sentiram atraídos única e exclusivamente porque estavam confinados num local muito limitado e as opções eram escassas ou nulas, mas que não chegou a ser amor amor.
"Está aí alguém?", pergunta ele. "Está alguém a ouvir?" a quantidade de vezes que li isto deu-me náuseas. Sim, estou aqui. Sim, estou a ouvir-te raios! Continua… era o que eu pensava. Mais uma prova que sou insensível… o pequeno estava em agonia, provavelmente a delirar um pouco e só queria que alguém o ouvisse e eu reajo desta maneira [shame on me!]
Mas o que mais me deixou triste em relação ao livro foi o facto deste não ter tocado naquela parte de mim que me teria feito sentir o que as personagens sentiram, excepto a claustrofobia [oh, isso eu senti bastante...]. Medo, dor, dúvidas, resignação, determinação em sobreviver… where are you? Os personagens sentiram-nas… e eu fiquei a ver. Estava preparar para chorar mais lágrimas do que as que existem nas Cataratas do Niagara, mas afinal chorei tanto como o Deserto do Saara no pico no Verão.
Atenção que esta é apenas a minha opinião. Estou convicta que os amantes do Diário de Anne Frank e aficcionados da II GM devorarão sofregamente e adorarão cada página deste livro.
Livro lido no Blog Ring, cedido pela Tink! Obrigada*
May 1, 2019
Livro ficcionado a partir do diário de Anne Frank, relatando o ponto de vista de Peter, incluindo a sua deportação e o sofrimento até à morte. A parte inicial é muito colada ao Diário e plausível, apesar de transmitir de Anne uma imagem de que não gostei muito: uma miúda tagarela e ávida de atenção que aborrecia Peter. É difícil de ler na parte final, devido à violência da situação. No geral, bastante triste, por sabermos que o desfecho terá sido este.
September 11, 2020
In 1944, fourteen-year-old Anne Frank pondered whether she would ever write anything great, anything world-class that would change people’s lives. Anne Frank died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of fifteen, one of an estimated six million Jews that were killed during the Holocaust. She would never know the profound effect that the hope and ideas contained in her diary would have on millions of children and adults worldwide as The Diary of a Young Girl (also known as The Diary of Anne Frank) became one of the most read and loved books of all time.
Otto Frank was the only member of Anne Frank’s immediate family to survive the Holocaust and it was Otto who edited and published Anne’s diary after the war. He once remarked that he did not know the Anne Frank that people felt they knew and discovered in the pages of her diary and he concluded that “as parents we do not know our children”. It is an interesting concept and by extension implies that readers could never really know the other characters in the book except as seen through Anne’s eyes.
In Annexed, Sharon Dogar tries to imagine what it must have been like to be Peter, the boy that lived with Anne Frank for two years and became the object of her affection. She explores how it might have felt for Peter to know he was being observed and that Anne was writing about him in her diary.
In July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding to avoid being called up to a Nazi work camp. They were Jews living in Amsterdam during the German occupation of the Netherlands and they chose to hide in a small three storey annexe located above Otto Frank’s offices. The family were joined one week later by the van Pels family (including Peter and his parents) and family friend Fritz Pfeffer joined them in November 1942.
Annexed begins as Peter watches his treasured girlfriend Liese and her family taken away by Nazis. This sets the scene for the novel as the van Pels family must go into hiding too to avoid a similar fate. The book is narrated by Peter and takes the form of sick bed musings as we are made aware that Peter is in the sick bay at Mauthausen concentration camp. With aching honestly and frankness, Peter recounts the events that took place in the annexe, events that many are familiar with from Anne Frank’s diary, but from his own perspective.
The reader is immersed in the thoughts of a sixteen-year-old boy as he comes to terms with the probable death of his girlfriend, his confinement in the annexe and the passing of the last of his years as a teenager. While Anne wrote of hope and her dreams for the future, Peter is painfully aware of the reality of their circumstances and the fate that might await them. He considers his own mortality and lack of a future and wonders whether he will ever be with a girl.
In Annexed, Sharon Dogar perfectly portrays the sense of waiting, the confinement, and the fear. The days might have dragged in the annexe as the seasons passed but this is a book that kept me turning the pages late into the night. My inability to put the book down might have been where I thought the story was going and how it would inevitably end, an ending that is revealed in the preface of the book but nothing could have prepared me for the impact of those final pages.
The first part of the book takes place in the annexe and mirrors the events in The Diary of a Young Girl but the second part of the story took place after that, once the families had been captured by the Nazis. Gleaming what information she could from historical accounts and camp records, Dogar weaves together a tale of the experiences of the Frank and van Pels families at the hands of the Nazis. It is horrific and heartbreaking and I found myself crying throughout the whole of the final section.
The book is not without its critics though and Anne Frank’s cousin criticised what she called a “sexed-up” version of events in the annexe. With all respect to those critics, I have to disagree. I found the portrayal of Peter to be sensitive, realistic and reflective of the morals of the time.
Annexed is one of two Andersen Press books that was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award. This is a powerful, important and heartbreaking novel that I would certainly recommend for children and adults alike. With Annexed, Sharon Dogar has written a relevant and important novel that will shed light on this period of history for a whole new generation of younger readers. I have no hesitation in giving this book five out of five stars.
Otto Frank was the only member of Anne Frank’s immediate family to survive the Holocaust and it was Otto who edited and published Anne’s diary after the war. He once remarked that he did not know the Anne Frank that people felt they knew and discovered in the pages of her diary and he concluded that “as parents we do not know our children”. It is an interesting concept and by extension implies that readers could never really know the other characters in the book except as seen through Anne’s eyes.
In Annexed, Sharon Dogar tries to imagine what it must have been like to be Peter, the boy that lived with Anne Frank for two years and became the object of her affection. She explores how it might have felt for Peter to know he was being observed and that Anne was writing about him in her diary.
In July 1942, the Frank family went into hiding to avoid being called up to a Nazi work camp. They were Jews living in Amsterdam during the German occupation of the Netherlands and they chose to hide in a small three storey annexe located above Otto Frank’s offices. The family were joined one week later by the van Pels family (including Peter and his parents) and family friend Fritz Pfeffer joined them in November 1942.
Annexed begins as Peter watches his treasured girlfriend Liese and her family taken away by Nazis. This sets the scene for the novel as the van Pels family must go into hiding too to avoid a similar fate. The book is narrated by Peter and takes the form of sick bed musings as we are made aware that Peter is in the sick bay at Mauthausen concentration camp. With aching honestly and frankness, Peter recounts the events that took place in the annexe, events that many are familiar with from Anne Frank’s diary, but from his own perspective.
The reader is immersed in the thoughts of a sixteen-year-old boy as he comes to terms with the probable death of his girlfriend, his confinement in the annexe and the passing of the last of his years as a teenager. While Anne wrote of hope and her dreams for the future, Peter is painfully aware of the reality of their circumstances and the fate that might await them. He considers his own mortality and lack of a future and wonders whether he will ever be with a girl.
In Annexed, Sharon Dogar perfectly portrays the sense of waiting, the confinement, and the fear. The days might have dragged in the annexe as the seasons passed but this is a book that kept me turning the pages late into the night. My inability to put the book down might have been where I thought the story was going and how it would inevitably end, an ending that is revealed in the preface of the book but nothing could have prepared me for the impact of those final pages.
The first part of the book takes place in the annexe and mirrors the events in The Diary of a Young Girl but the second part of the story took place after that, once the families had been captured by the Nazis. Gleaming what information she could from historical accounts and camp records, Dogar weaves together a tale of the experiences of the Frank and van Pels families at the hands of the Nazis. It is horrific and heartbreaking and I found myself crying throughout the whole of the final section.
The book is not without its critics though and Anne Frank’s cousin criticised what she called a “sexed-up” version of events in the annexe. With all respect to those critics, I have to disagree. I found the portrayal of Peter to be sensitive, realistic and reflective of the morals of the time.
Annexed is one of two Andersen Press books that was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award. This is a powerful, important and heartbreaking novel that I would certainly recommend for children and adults alike. With Annexed, Sharon Dogar has written a relevant and important novel that will shed light on this period of history for a whole new generation of younger readers. I have no hesitation in giving this book five out of five stars.
May 24, 2012
Um 5 por ser um livro bem escrito, por se basear num livro memorável e por dar voz a Peter Van Petels e aos refugiados no anexo por nos mostrar que eram apenas seres humanos com as suas preocupações, medos, dúvidas, amores, alegrias e a quem lhes foi retirado isto tudo e sem razão foram sujeitos ao pior dos horrores que um ser humano pode causar a outro!
http://the-door-to-my-imaginarium.blo...
Este livro tem como base o diário de Anne Frank, mas relatado (segundo fontes verídicas da época aliadas à imaginação da autora) na voz de Peter Van Pels.
Peter Van Pels foi um adolescente que partilhou o refúgio com a família Frank, constituída pela Mãe (Edith Frank), Pai (Otto Frank), Irmã (margot Frank) e Anne Frank. A família de Pels era constituída pelo Pai (Hermann), Mãe (Auguste), mais tarde juntou-se a eles o Dr. Pfeffer (dentista amigo da família Frank).
Este livro é constituído por duas partes:
Parte I – Relata os momentos vividos no Anexo: 8 pessoas refugiadas, confinadas 24h/7 ao mesmo espaço durante cerca de dois anos.
Parte II – Através de uma denúncia anónima, os habitantes do refúgio foram presos e transportados em condições deploráveis, para o campo de concentração de Auschwitz, onde sofreram terrores inimagináveis.
O diário de Anne Frank é um livro importante e que todos devem ler e eu tenciono reler, pois quando o li (devia ter uns 9?) e não o fiz totalmente e só me recordo de ela chamar ao seu diário “Kitty” e assim aliado ao Lua de Joana…adoptei o mesmo estilo e dei um nome ao meu diário…
O Diário de Anne Frank e o Anexo mostra que estes adolescentes são iguais a tantos outros: querem amar e ser amados, estão cheios de coragem e medos, tem ilusões e esperança, sonham com um futuro…mas no caso de Anne e Peter esse futuro nunca chegou. O futuro de ambos foi roubado meramente porque foram considerados lixo, apenas como base de que eram judeus e juntamente com muitos outros “Peters” e “Anne’s” conheceram na pele a crueldade humana, num marco horrendo da história da humanidade.
Adorei este livro e emocionei-me. Não precisam de ler o Diário de Anne Frank, pois é um livro separado, mas recomendo que leiam os dois!
http://the-door-to-my-imaginarium.blo...
Este livro tem como base o diário de Anne Frank, mas relatado (segundo fontes verídicas da época aliadas à imaginação da autora) na voz de Peter Van Pels.
Peter Van Pels foi um adolescente que partilhou o refúgio com a família Frank, constituída pela Mãe (Edith Frank), Pai (Otto Frank), Irmã (margot Frank) e Anne Frank. A família de Pels era constituída pelo Pai (Hermann), Mãe (Auguste), mais tarde juntou-se a eles o Dr. Pfeffer (dentista amigo da família Frank).
Este livro é constituído por duas partes:
Parte I – Relata os momentos vividos no Anexo: 8 pessoas refugiadas, confinadas 24h/7 ao mesmo espaço durante cerca de dois anos.
Parte II – Através de uma denúncia anónima, os habitantes do refúgio foram presos e transportados em condições deploráveis, para o campo de concentração de Auschwitz, onde sofreram terrores inimagináveis.
O diário de Anne Frank é um livro importante e que todos devem ler e eu tenciono reler, pois quando o li (devia ter uns 9?) e não o fiz totalmente e só me recordo de ela chamar ao seu diário “Kitty” e assim aliado ao Lua de Joana…adoptei o mesmo estilo e dei um nome ao meu diário…
O Diário de Anne Frank e o Anexo mostra que estes adolescentes são iguais a tantos outros: querem amar e ser amados, estão cheios de coragem e medos, tem ilusões e esperança, sonham com um futuro…mas no caso de Anne e Peter esse futuro nunca chegou. O futuro de ambos foi roubado meramente porque foram considerados lixo, apenas como base de que eram judeus e juntamente com muitos outros “Peters” e “Anne’s” conheceram na pele a crueldade humana, num marco horrendo da história da humanidade.
Adorei este livro e emocionei-me. Não precisam de ler o Diário de Anne Frank, pois é um livro separado, mas recomendo que leiam os dois!
December 12, 2011
Li O Diário de Anne Frank no início da minha adolescência e foi aí que tomei consciência, pela primeira vez, dos horrores do Holocausto. Depois disso, foram muitos os livros, que me forma mostrando de diversas formas como esses horrores foram perpetrados. Em No Anexo, Sharon Dogar, quis mostrar, embora de forma ficcionada, o que foi viver no anexo durante aquele tempo entre 1942 e 1944 sob o mesmo tecto dos Frank's, mas do olhar de Peter, o apaixonado de Anne. Será que se não tivessem estado juntos no anexo as suas vidas se teriam cruzado da mesma forma e se teriam apaixonado na mesma? Provavelmente não. Mas a autora, leu e releu os diários de Anne e não teve a menor dúvida que eles se apaixonaram no anexo e viveram pelo menos uma história de amor debaixo do mesmo tecto. Eu também quero acreditar que sim, quero acreditar que estes dois jovens, antes do destino trágico que tiveram, pelo menos viveram uma história de amor, a sua primeira e única história de amor.
Ao longo destes dois anos, Peter vai descrevendo a vida monótona que vão levando as oito pessoas no anexo, e o medo que têm em ser descobertas. Ao mesmo tempo, vai descrevendo as suas vontades e desejos próprios de um adolescente de 15 anos.
Até que tudo se desmorona e são descobertos e levados pelos nazis. A viagem até ao campo de concentração e a separação de Peter da mãe, de quem é muito ligado, e a posterior morte do pai, no campo de concentração, é de tal forma descrita, que apesar de não ser real, leva-nos a pensar em muitas histórias que os prisioneiros, tiveram que viver às mãos dos nazis até serem libertados, os que conseguiram sobreviver.
Dos oito ocupantes do anexo, só o pai de Anne, Otto Frank, conseguiu sobreviver.
Excerto:
“De dia éramos animais. Mas nos nossos sonhos não podíamos deixar de ter esperança de que alguém, algures, poderia ouvir-nos”
Ao longo destes dois anos, Peter vai descrevendo a vida monótona que vão levando as oito pessoas no anexo, e o medo que têm em ser descobertas. Ao mesmo tempo, vai descrevendo as suas vontades e desejos próprios de um adolescente de 15 anos.
Até que tudo se desmorona e são descobertos e levados pelos nazis. A viagem até ao campo de concentração e a separação de Peter da mãe, de quem é muito ligado, e a posterior morte do pai, no campo de concentração, é de tal forma descrita, que apesar de não ser real, leva-nos a pensar em muitas histórias que os prisioneiros, tiveram que viver às mãos dos nazis até serem libertados, os que conseguiram sobreviver.
Dos oito ocupantes do anexo, só o pai de Anne, Otto Frank, conseguiu sobreviver.
Excerto:
“De dia éramos animais. Mas nos nossos sonhos não podíamos deixar de ter esperança de que alguém, algures, poderia ouvir-nos”
February 11, 2011
Emotionally wrenching story based on "The Diary of Anne Frank" but taken from the Peter, the teen boy's point of view that was also in hiding. I found Dogar's writing to be very powerful and showed proof she certainly did her homework while writing this book. It is definetely a mature teen book as some thoughts on sexuality are shared, but nothing is inappropriate. It is just part of the adolescent journey the reader is on with an Peter as he ponders many questions common to young adults:
Why would God allow such a thing to happen?
Do I even want to be Jewish just because my parents are?
Will I die a virgin?
How can people who have never met me hate me?
The reader is taken on a roller coaster ride alongside Peter as each day in the annex brings a new reason to hope that freedom is near or fear that the secret door will burst open and they will be arrested and sent away. The discomfort of waiting is made painstakingly real by the anxiety Peter feels having to sit there quietly day after day when he would rather go and be part of the fight.
The auther mastered both the task of writing historical fiction and capturing the spirit of a young man searching for his identity amid chaos. An inspiring and devasting read.
Why would God allow such a thing to happen?
Do I even want to be Jewish just because my parents are?
Will I die a virgin?
How can people who have never met me hate me?
The reader is taken on a roller coaster ride alongside Peter as each day in the annex brings a new reason to hope that freedom is near or fear that the secret door will burst open and they will be arrested and sent away. The discomfort of waiting is made painstakingly real by the anxiety Peter feels having to sit there quietly day after day when he would rather go and be part of the fight.
The auther mastered both the task of writing historical fiction and capturing the spirit of a young man searching for his identity amid chaos. An inspiring and devasting read.
June 27, 2010
It's 1942 and Europe is at war. For the Jewish van Pels family, this war means almost-certain death and they have no choice but to go into hiding with another family, the Franks. For sixteen-year-old Peter van Pels, sharing a tiny space with seven other people, this means no privacy. It means that he has to sit around instead of going to fight like a man. And it means he has to put up with Anne, a thirteen-year-old chatterbox who's constantly writing about him in her diary. As the years wear on, Peter and Anne become friends... and then maybe something more. What was life like for Peter in the Annex?
I mean, it's just fascinating. Obviously, we can't know exactly what Peter van Pels was thinking during his time in the attic. But Ms. Dogar's done her research and carefully crafted this book that explores what might have been going through his head. I think it's an excellent work and adds much to the selection of YA literature available today.
More on the blog: http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2010/...
I mean, it's just fascinating. Obviously, we can't know exactly what Peter van Pels was thinking during his time in the attic. But Ms. Dogar's done her research and carefully crafted this book that explores what might have been going through his head. I think it's an excellent work and adds much to the selection of YA literature available today.
More on the blog: http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2010/...
October 18, 2012
Quase todos nós conhecemos o testemunho de Anne Frank. Foi através do seu diário que conseguimos saber as privações e sofrimentos a que os judeus foram submetidos.
Quando tive conhecimento do livro "No Anexo" nem pensei duas vezes em lê-lo. Primeiro porque nunca é demais alimentarmos a nossa cultura e porque é um assunto que me fascina e do qual tenho imenso respeito.
Assim, e através do jovem Peter, tive possibilidade de conhecer um novo testemunho e uma nova visão do sucedido.
Achei este livro verdadeiramente impressionante, muito bem escrito e a forma como Sharon Dogar avançou com o relato após a captura de todos os elementos do Anexo tornou o enredo bastante credível.
Aconselho-o, sem dúvida!
Quando tive conhecimento do livro "No Anexo" nem pensei duas vezes em lê-lo. Primeiro porque nunca é demais alimentarmos a nossa cultura e porque é um assunto que me fascina e do qual tenho imenso respeito.
Assim, e através do jovem Peter, tive possibilidade de conhecer um novo testemunho e uma nova visão do sucedido.
Achei este livro verdadeiramente impressionante, muito bem escrito e a forma como Sharon Dogar avançou com o relato após a captura de todos os elementos do Anexo tornou o enredo bastante credível.
Aconselho-o, sem dúvida!
January 4, 2017
Leva 2* por causa da 2a parte e estou a ser simpática.. Este livro não trouxe nada de novo à história... Senti que estava novamente a ler o diário de Anne Frank, mas do ponto de vista de um puto mimado e egoísta. A segunda parte mostra-nos um pouco do que foi sobreviver num campo de concentração, mas não o suficiente...
Meh..
Meh..
October 28, 2022
This was a gross interpretation of a very serious subject matter. Im not gonna mince words here, we were talking about the very real threat but the main character had a very disturbing dream about his crush that shouldn’t have been i the book. It never felt serious on its subject matter the only time it takes its subject seriously is in the last 200 pages? It was an absolute mess
January 24, 2016
Este livro é uma perspectiva diferente do Diário de Anne Frank, esta segundo a voz de Peter van Pels. A narrativa conta a vida e os anseios destes dois jovens que se vêem confinados ao mesmo espaço numa altura em que teriam tanto para viver.
June 19, 2011
Very emotional book to read...........
June 22, 2019
May contain contents of the story you won't want to know; possible spoilers, but I'm not listing this review as such. If you don't want to know tidbits just know I do not recommend this book at all.
Can I give it 1.5 stars?
I'm so very disappointed with this book. The chapter titles and the way the story is written comes across as immature, but has sexual content that, imo, should not be in this book. Who is the audience for this book?
To assume that Peter masturbated, (which goes against the Talmud and not spilling seed), as well as the assumption of his sexual thoughts on a girl, (that the author made up), and on Anne herself, just makes their relationship seem sullied. In a nutshell, it ruins the relationship Anne and Peter have in the Diary of Anne Frank.
pg 210 Downstairs everyone's happy with relief. They've made us real lemonade.
how could they have lemonade? It's April 1944 and let's just say there were lemons available, what about sugar? Where did the sugar come from? Let's not forget that everythig was being rationed. Amsterdam being one of the areas suffering the worst of rationing. Then a few months later, the winter of 1944 the citizens were eating tulip bulbs and weeds! This is such a major faux pas. Eight people in a building relying on outsiders to share their rations is going to have enough sugar for lemonade? Not likely.
pg. 255 Anne and Peter have a discussion and Peter tells her he believes in people. (humanism). Ironic since it's German people killing Jewish people, but he doesn't want to be considered Jewish. According to this book, the characters are more into traditions of man than having a relationship with God.
(that being said, it's completely understandable to question God the why of the brutality, but Peter loses focus on the fact that it's evil people doing the killing).
The degradation that begins on the trains and treating the Jewish people like animals or trying to exterminate them like cockroaches is disturbing. It was not the Jewish people who were animals though. The nazi's were worse than animals, they were monsters. This includes the people who turned in Jewish people who were not officially Nazi's or even German. The police who claimed they were "just doing their job" is not a valid excuse for their atrocities. And of course the worst monsters of all are the Jews who turned on their own people.
pg. 298 do animals fear death?
At the very end, the epilogue, sigh, I should not have read it. It was worse than the story itself, because this part is real life.
pg 337 how the ever lovin' world of all common sense is someone allowed to marry a dead person?! In 1953 no less. Does this mean I can marry some wealthy dead dude and get in on the inheritance? (I'm being snarky of course).
And to top it all off - I question the people running the Anne Frank House and Foundation. Are they woefully ignorant of the fact they will repeat history, by catering to people who are commanded to kill Jewish people (and all people who are unbelievers of their ideology), or purposely against Jewish people? This organization is not honoring Anne Frank or the Jewish people. Is the foundation ignorant of their book of ideology (excluding the satanic verses), containing more hate towards Jewish people than even Mein Kampf?
Upon researching this organization, I found that a Jewish employee was NOT allowed to wear his Kippa. WHAT?!@ Would this include employees who want to wear a burka, or hijab? Or an employee who wants to wear a cross? And what of visitors? Do they want to control what visitors wear too? Or is it just aimed towards Jewish employees? Oh the irony.
The actions of the foundation are extremely disturbing.
Can I give it 1.5 stars?
I'm so very disappointed with this book. The chapter titles and the way the story is written comes across as immature, but has sexual content that, imo, should not be in this book. Who is the audience for this book?
To assume that Peter masturbated, (which goes against the Talmud and not spilling seed), as well as the assumption of his sexual thoughts on a girl, (that the author made up), and on Anne herself, just makes their relationship seem sullied. In a nutshell, it ruins the relationship Anne and Peter have in the Diary of Anne Frank.
pg 210 Downstairs everyone's happy with relief. They've made us real lemonade.
how could they have lemonade? It's April 1944 and let's just say there were lemons available, what about sugar? Where did the sugar come from? Let's not forget that everythig was being rationed. Amsterdam being one of the areas suffering the worst of rationing. Then a few months later, the winter of 1944 the citizens were eating tulip bulbs and weeds! This is such a major faux pas. Eight people in a building relying on outsiders to share their rations is going to have enough sugar for lemonade? Not likely.
pg. 255 Anne and Peter have a discussion and Peter tells her he believes in people. (humanism). Ironic since it's German people killing Jewish people, but he doesn't want to be considered Jewish. According to this book, the characters are more into traditions of man than having a relationship with God.
(that being said, it's completely understandable to question God the why of the brutality, but Peter loses focus on the fact that it's evil people doing the killing).
The degradation that begins on the trains and treating the Jewish people like animals or trying to exterminate them like cockroaches is disturbing. It was not the Jewish people who were animals though. The nazi's were worse than animals, they were monsters. This includes the people who turned in Jewish people who were not officially Nazi's or even German. The police who claimed they were "just doing their job" is not a valid excuse for their atrocities. And of course the worst monsters of all are the Jews who turned on their own people.
pg. 298 do animals fear death?
At the very end, the epilogue, sigh, I should not have read it. It was worse than the story itself, because this part is real life.
pg 337 how the ever lovin' world of all common sense is someone allowed to marry a dead person?! In 1953 no less. Does this mean I can marry some wealthy dead dude and get in on the inheritance? (I'm being snarky of course).
And to top it all off - I question the people running the Anne Frank House and Foundation. Are they woefully ignorant of the fact they will repeat history, by catering to people who are commanded to kill Jewish people (and all people who are unbelievers of their ideology), or purposely against Jewish people? This organization is not honoring Anne Frank or the Jewish people. Is the foundation ignorant of their book of ideology (excluding the satanic verses), containing more hate towards Jewish people than even Mein Kampf?
Upon researching this organization, I found that a Jewish employee was NOT allowed to wear his Kippa. WHAT?!@ Would this include employees who want to wear a burka, or hijab? Or an employee who wants to wear a cross? And what of visitors? Do they want to control what visitors wear too? Or is it just aimed towards Jewish employees? Oh the irony.
The actions of the foundation are extremely disturbing.
August 12, 2017
Have you ever heard about Peter Van Pels? Well, he's definitely not as famous as the girl he was stick in the annex with, but he was a big part of her sanity there and possibly her life. This is the tale of the boy who fell in love with Anne Frank. A story that you can watch the transformation from a hateful bond into a loving relationship after being stuck in an annex together for just over two years. It was interesting to read about this famous annex story through someone else's eyes, getting to see a whole other side of Anne and her story. I always enjoy reading a story that morphs a relationship into something powerful, and throwing in the Holocaust aspect just made me want to read it more.
It always tears me up to read about the Holocaust and the events that happened to the prisoners in the concentration camps. But I still love to read them, and hearing the stories of the voices that have ben long gone, but they will never be forgotten through the stories that are left behind. This one happens to take place in Auschwitz, and it made it even more emotional for me since I just visited Auschwitz yesterday, so seeing the places where these prisoners were tortured and slept made it even more real.
Anyways, I love the way she told this story, going back and forth between the present, where Peter is dying in the infirmary, and the past, where his dreams flash back to. So having his current thoughts interrupt us after chapters of reading made you feel like you were with him on his death bed, trying to tell his story before he passed on. Cause he needed to tell it. Towards the end, the flashback got a little confusing at first, but this is because this is when his past and present were starting to catch up to him and finding out what happened to him to get him into this spot.
This tale was extremely fascinating because she created it from the tales of others that were around Peter, just so we could live through his eyes. Everything might not have been true, but the feelings I got while reading it definitely were. Peter Van Pels will live on through this story. He did not deserve to die at 18, nor did Anne deserve to die at 15. So for anyone that loves Holocaust stories, I highly recommend this one to you!
It always tears me up to read about the Holocaust and the events that happened to the prisoners in the concentration camps. But I still love to read them, and hearing the stories of the voices that have ben long gone, but they will never be forgotten through the stories that are left behind. This one happens to take place in Auschwitz, and it made it even more emotional for me since I just visited Auschwitz yesterday, so seeing the places where these prisoners were tortured and slept made it even more real.
Anyways, I love the way she told this story, going back and forth between the present, where Peter is dying in the infirmary, and the past, where his dreams flash back to. So having his current thoughts interrupt us after chapters of reading made you feel like you were with him on his death bed, trying to tell his story before he passed on. Cause he needed to tell it. Towards the end, the flashback got a little confusing at first, but this is because this is when his past and present were starting to catch up to him and finding out what happened to him to get him into this spot.
This tale was extremely fascinating because she created it from the tales of others that were around Peter, just so we could live through his eyes. Everything might not have been true, but the feelings I got while reading it definitely were. Peter Van Pels will live on through this story. He did not deserve to die at 18, nor did Anne deserve to die at 15. So for anyone that loves Holocaust stories, I highly recommend this one to you!
May 1, 2018
Personal Response:
Annexed was an interesting complement to Anne Frank’s Diary. The book had exciting parts to break up calmer parts. After a calm breakfast, Peter van Pels went to the store downstairs, and found that someone broke into the store. If the burglar found the secret door, the eight living in the annex would be in great danger.
Plot:
The book had an interesting twist to a classic book. Instead of being about Anne Frank, it was about another person in the famed annex, Peter van Pels. The book was very intense at the start. Peter was running to his sweetheart's house and jumped a fence. Then he heard a noise of a military vehicle and froze. Outside in the yard, Peter hid until every member of his sweetheart's family was taken. He had no other option besides going into hiding with his family. The most interesting character was Peter’s father. Despite the grim realities, Peter’s father was a funny person who told jokes. Peter’s cat and dog provided some calmness when Peter had to calm down.
Characterization:
At the start of the book, Peter hated Anne Frank and was so naive. As the story progressed, he started to see the real side of her and fell in love. Peter became more independent and even started to question his faith.
Recommendation:
I recommend this book to people who want to have a deeper understanding of the personal experiences of others during the holocaust. The book takes a different point of view from Anne Frank to the person that loved her, Peter van Pels. People looking for a deeper understanding would appreciate this new point of view.
Annexed was an interesting complement to Anne Frank’s Diary. The book had exciting parts to break up calmer parts. After a calm breakfast, Peter van Pels went to the store downstairs, and found that someone broke into the store. If the burglar found the secret door, the eight living in the annex would be in great danger.
Plot:
The book had an interesting twist to a classic book. Instead of being about Anne Frank, it was about another person in the famed annex, Peter van Pels. The book was very intense at the start. Peter was running to his sweetheart's house and jumped a fence. Then he heard a noise of a military vehicle and froze. Outside in the yard, Peter hid until every member of his sweetheart's family was taken. He had no other option besides going into hiding with his family. The most interesting character was Peter’s father. Despite the grim realities, Peter’s father was a funny person who told jokes. Peter’s cat and dog provided some calmness when Peter had to calm down.
Characterization:
At the start of the book, Peter hated Anne Frank and was so naive. As the story progressed, he started to see the real side of her and fell in love. Peter became more independent and even started to question his faith.
Recommendation:
I recommend this book to people who want to have a deeper understanding of the personal experiences of others during the holocaust. The book takes a different point of view from Anne Frank to the person that loved her, Peter van Pels. People looking for a deeper understanding would appreciate this new point of view.
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