A Friend Called Anne

BOOK ENTRY FORMAT FOR GENRE PROJECT


Information for students
Author: Jacqueline Van Maarsen Title: A Friend Called Anne
Book Genre: Biography Publishing Info: Penguin Group, 163 pp.

Summary: This book is about Jacqueline Van Maarsen, who was the best friend of the now famous Anne Frank (author of The Diary of Anne Frank, which was published after her death). Jacqueline survived the Holocaust to tell her story years later. Anne did not survive, but thanks to the diary she received on her thirteenth birthday (which was to be her last birthday of freedom), the world can still know her story. Jacqueline has an intriquing story of her own, as her family did not go into hiding during the 1940’s as the Franks did. Her father was Jewish, and her mother was a Catholic who was formerly from Paris. Since Jacque’s father was Jewish, she and her sister were registered as Jewish as well. However, when her mother began to realize the depth of the situation, (beginning with the German occupation of the Netherlands and their harsh treatment of Jewish citizens) she took it upon herself to go to the Gestapo headquarters in Amsterdam, dressed in her finest clothing and speaking only in French in order to talk to a high-ranking German official, in order to plead her case to have her children removed as members of the Jewish congregation. She cited that her husband had registered them without her knowledge, and that she wished to have the registration reversed, and it worked. Probably because of her actions, the Van Maarsen family survived the war. Although Mr. Van Maarsen was at first upset that his wife had done such a thing, he came to appreciate her efforts, especially when he was spared from reporting to a concentration camp because he had married a Catholic. Jacque recalled the transformation of going from Jewish to non-Jewish. She was able to remove the yellow star from all of her clothing, she could walk on the streets without fear of the German soldiers’ scrutinizing glare as she passed by. She could go into any shop, any ice cream store, or any place she wanted to. Suddenly, she realized all of the freedoms that she had taken for granted before the war. Sadly, though, she watched many friends and relatives disappear around her; many of which would never return, and she hoped that the war would soon be over so that her best friend, Anne, and countless others, could come home.

Personal rating: (**** Great!, *** Good, ** Ok, * A disappointment) ****

Rationale: Very well-written; a book you cannot put down; an excellent read that will make you want to laugh (some) and cry (a lot).

Information for teachers
Reading level: 6.9 Interest level: 6-8

Thematic Areas: Friendship; Family; War; Hard Times; Religious Persecution; Survival.

Content Areas: History; Religion; Geography.

Potential Problems or Difficulties: For example, print size, length, sophisticated vocabulary, harsh view of life, slow moving, swearing, explicit sexual overtones, gory
There are some disturbing details of the Holocaust, as well as a few areas of sexual overtones. Use caution among these areas in the book when sharing it with students.
Possible use in classroom: Use as part of a unit of study on the Holocaust (late Elementary at the earliest); use as part of a unit on the study of World War II, plotting the impacted areas on a global map. Use different colored tacks to designate German-occupied areas and Allied Forces; study the timeline of WWII; use as part of a unit on religion (stressing freedom and diversity).