I remember reading Diary of Anne Frank as a young pre-teen and having nightmares about tanks rolling down my street. Sadly, Anne and so many didn’t have nightmares about these tanks. Instead, it was reality. When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary is a historical fictional account for (pre)/adolescent readers to imagine what life was like for Anne and her family leading up to their hiding in the attic where ultimately for them, their lives where no longer.

Alice Hoffman encapsulated a young girl’s thoughts and dreams during an unimaginable time in her life. The writing is wonderful and the way it makes the reader think about this time in Anne’s life before her 13th birthday is truly heartbreaking knowing how Anne’s “story” ends.

Many thanks for the Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by Net Galley and Scholastic Press.

Alice Hoffman is one of those authors that I never miss. My excitement about a middle grade novel cannot be expressed!

I have a student who asks for Anne Frank books every week. I cannot wait to add this to my library as she will LOVE it! My bookfair cannot come soon enough.

We all know the basic story of Anne Frank and her diary is one of the most important primary sources from that time period. However, a historical fiction that is done with loving, tender care is so vital. This book helps children better understand the time period and why we remember Anne to this day.

I think everyone, adult or child should read this book!

Thank you to Scholastic and Net Galley for the eARC!

Last year, I read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and a graphic novel adaptation for the first time. I think I’d read the play in school and then saw it performed at a local theatre. None of those other things comes close to reading the diary and the words of Anne Frank herself. Sometimes it’s so easy to believe she’s fourteen/fifteen while writing, and at other times, she writes with so much more maturity and vision than anyone would expect from someone so young.

I heard another author state that one of the most powerful things about Anne Frank’s diary is that we read it knowing how Anne’s story ends. Hoffman brings that sense of reality to this book, though Anne and her family do not know what will happen. A shadow of doom hangs over them despite the sweet memories of ice skating and afternoons with her grandmother or holding hands with a boy.

The writing stays sort of detached from the story. Reading the book, I kept feeling as though I stood on the beginning edge of a story, waiting for it to begin. In some ways, because it imagines what Anne’s daily life may have looked like in the years and months leading up to going into hiding, it is the prologue to the story of her life we are so familiar with.

I liked that the story celebrated Anne’s relationships with her family members. She and her family are under so much stress as she writes the diary. Those hard times and conflicts are preserved in amber and remembered through her diary entries. This novel imagines more nuance and ups and downs in the relationships. I don’t know if those connections are based on research. The book acknowledges Anne’s outspoken manner as well.

I think the book is a lovely tribute to the girl whose diary has changed so many lives. Some readers might find the voice to be a little strange or ethereal. I think Anne Frank fans will want to read this one.

I loved every second, and I immediately reread her diary after. Alice Hoffman is a beautiful writer, and her imaginings of Anne’s life before her diary were wonderful. This is a must read!

I'm just so glad this book exists. It's beautiful and moving and important. Different than the Alice Hoffman I know, but so good.

I was super excited to see Alice Hoffman coming out with a middle grade historical novel about Anne Frank and her family. I love the premise of the book, and Alice Hoffman is a master storyteller. Unfortunately the e-arc of the book was so chaotically formatted that I couldn't read it without inducing both a severe headache and even more severe frustration. I'll read the hard copy and will surely enjoy it, but probably not for a while!

What a well-written book! While I still need to read Anne Frank’s diary, this middle grade novel was a perfect intro into Anne’s life. It takes place during WWII when her family had fled to the Netherlands. The persecution, terror and horror for the Jews during that time is something I’ll never be able to fathom. Hearing the author’s profound experience of reading Anne Frank’s diary and how it shaped her was powerful. She also talks about how important it is for us to remember and talk about the past, no matter how hard it is.

“When We Flew Away” by Alice Hoffman is a wonderful, tender, heartbreaking novel, imagining Anne Frank’s life leading up to the moment when the family went into hiding. Well done and important. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the early review copy. All opinions are my own.

When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary by Alice Hoffman is a fictionalized account of Anne Frank's time before her family went into hiding. Hoffman writes about what Anne's relationships with her sister, parents, grandmother, and friends may have been like. It was difficult to read about Anne living a happy, ordinary pre-teen life in late 1930s and early 1940s Amsterdam knowing how her life ended. This is a powerful book that is sure to build middle-grade readers' empathy along with their understanding of antisemitism and the Holocaust. This was a 5-star read for me.

Thank you to Scholastic and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

Alice Hoffman is my favorite writer. I've read everything she's ever written and had the opportunity and pleasure of reviewing many of her recent works. This title, while relatively short, is one of her most important in terms of it's significance to world events both past and present. Although she has portrayed a fictionalized version of Anne Frank's life "before the diary", the story is underscored by some of the lesser known facts surrounding the spread of fascism and the holocaust especially pertaining to the events in the Netherlands. It's illuminating for adults who will find a new perspective on these terrible events, yet mild enough for young readers who may not be ready for the gruesome details of this blight on human history. One might call this historical fiction, but it is particularly relevant at this point in time. A must-read.

3.5 stars

This book felt so sad and foreboding since I already knew the ultimate outcome. I know this was fiction, but truth was mixed in, and Anne’s initial optimism felt like a punch in the gut. It was heartbreaking to get a Jewish child’s perspective of living during the time of Hitler. I did find it hard to get into a fictional book about Anne Frank after reading her beautiful bluntness of her journal. I absolutely agree with Hoffman that A diary of a Young Girl should be required reading in schools. Remembering helps prevent repeating our mistakes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced release copy in exchange for a honest review.

A very thoughtful and interesting perspective of Ann Frank. I loved the look into her life before the war. A wonderful look at what her normal life might have been like! A must read for Ann Frank fans!

I teach the diary of Anne Frank, so having this insight, even fictionalization is very compelling and well written.

I loved this story and the details of Anne's life. A great addition to any historical fiction section!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful book by Alice Hoffman. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Geared toward middle grades but a must-read for any age, this is a look at Anne Frank's life before the events written about in her diary. Here, we get a glimpse into Anne's world and that of her family, as the impact of being a Jew in the Netherlands at this time hits them. We see Anne and her sister, Margot, go through so many forced changes, as their parents seek only to keep them safe. Anne's spunkiness and eternal optimism shine through as she continues to dream of a different life, but basically just to be able to grow up.

Knowing how the true story ends, this book can't be anything but heartbreaking, but it does shine a light into the "before." Hoffman is such a wonderful writer and this book is no exception. Highly recommended.

Anne Frank and her family's lives are changing as the Nazis come to power. They receive restriction after restriction due to being Jewish. Anne's father writes to consulate and applies for visas. Anne's sister Margot is then mandated to report to a labor camp., and the family must do something to ensure their safety. This title goes into what the family experienced before the annex, seeing how their lives changed.

As this book was approved by the Anne Frank Museum, I felt confident that this novel would be accurate. This novel did not disappoint. This is essentially a prequel to the Diary. It was nice seeing the family as individual people, with emotions and living life.

I jumped at the chance to read Hoffman's telling of what might have happened just prior to the hiding of the Frank family and the subsequent diary of which we're all familiar. Since this was approved by the Anne Frank Museum, I felt sure that the time period and known facts surrounding the family and the area would be well-portrayed. The prose and symbolism throughout (wolves, dark moths, etc.) made for a lovely story, yet one that also tackled complicated emotions and relationships present during this very difficult time in history.
I applaud any efforts to keep the stories and past alive for the Jewish people, as well as the world at large, so that lessons can be learned, rather than mistakes and tragedies repeated. I think this is also very timely considering the current political climate surrounding this group of people. I hope it will spark important conversations and further reflection.
Thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

I saw this and jumped at being able to read it. Anne Frank's Diary has always been a book I can never forget and think about often. This book is beautifully written and I wanted to love it. I liked it alot but not sure many readers the book is targeted for will pick it up. I hope I'm wrong.

This book is an imagined prequel story to Anne Frank and her family before the events in her diary.

I am such a huge fan of Alice Hoffman’s (and Holocaust novels) that I immediately requested this book from @NetGalley when I saw it. But I was worried this book would be challenging for me to read in light of all the antisemitism in today’s society.

I won’t say it was an easy read, however it was so nice to read about Anne Frank as a real person, having a full life, and actually living — despite the horrors of the world around her. Hoffman is such a talented author she makes you inhabit the dreamlike wonder of Anne’s world, her fights with her mother, like all young girls are wont to do, and her perseverance in the face of people who look down on her. Anne imagines the Nazi’s evil as black moths tapping at the window trying to get in. Like all of Hoffman's books, the magical realism is so powerful, especially in such a delicate topic.

It’s such a wonderful read. I truly feel lucky to have Alice Hoffman’s writing in my life!

This was a really cool perspective on Anne Frank and helps to humanize her even more because it shows us who she is even before the Holocaust.