Even when there is evil in the world and it is impossible to hope…

…it is still possible to be brave. So writes author Alice Hoffman in this beautifully crafted novel that chronicles the life of Anne Frank in the years before she would write about life in hiding with her family in Amsterdam. How does a young girl become the person who can, through her private journal, become one of the leading voices about the Holocaust? I am writing this review with the assumption that most readers have either read The Diary of Anne Frank or know her story through other means, perhaps even through visiting the museum which honors her life in Amsterdam. When We Flew Away is most definitely a work of fiction, but the author has published this in cooperation with the Anne Frank House and the story weaves known facts into its fabric. The book opens on May 9, 1940, the day before Germany invaded the neutral country of Amsterdam, a country into which so many Jewish people like Anne and her family had immigrated as it was one of the few countries in the world who were willing to take them. So for one day, the reader sees Anne and her sister coming home from school as regular girls, one urging them to arrive home on time in order to do their homework and daily chores, the other wanting to stop at the ice cream parlor they would pass on their way or a bookstore inside which they might lose themselves for just a little while. The elder sister Margot, 14 years old, is the “good” daughter, pretty and pleasant and well-behaved; Anne is (nearly) 11, curious, headstrong, and prone to daydreaming. Her father Otto and grandmother Oma tell Anne that she is special, while Anne’s mother Edith worries that her inability to behave as expected and her insistence on speaking her mind and daring to dream of a bigger life will lead to heartache and problems. Each sister is envious of the other, although Anne doesn't become aware of Margot’s feelings until later. Anne wants to tell stories, live in California, appear in Hollywood movies….big dreams indeed for a young Jewish girl at the beginning of World War II. First bombs fall on Amsterdam on May 10, 1940, and between that date and July 6 two years later this story follows the hopes and fears, the determination to survive and the ever-shrinking world the Frank family must inhabit, all from the perspective of a young girl whose desire to be seen and heard, loved and kept safe, will die at the Bergen-Belsen camp before she reached her 16th birthday.
For anyone who has ever read The Diary of Anne Frank, or who knows at least a bit of her life story, When We Flew Away is an absolute must read. It is a book that only an author with the gifts of Alice Hoffman could write, and reintroduced me to a teenage girl whose diary I read more years ago than I care to admit but which still rests in a corner of my mind. Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for allowing me early access to this haunting and beautiful tale, which can be read and enjoyed by readers of all ages, including fans of Alice Hoffman, Harper Lee, Lois Lowry, and Katherine Paterson.

Thank you to NetGalley, Scholastic Press, and Alice Hoffman for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

We’ve all heard stories about Anne Frank and her life during such a terrible wartime, but I wonder how many people thought about what her life was like before her days of hiding. I’m sure we all wonder how we would have reacted in the same situation, especially at age thirteen, an age when most teens are involved in many activities. Anne Frank was no exception, a girl with serious thoughts about the future, life, politics, and family. As she dreams of first love, traveling to America, and growing up free to live, the attic becomes her world. Will her family survive? Will they ever see the sky again? Luckily, the diary she wrote during hiding survived, and we were blessed with a glimpse of the life she had, as well as dreamed of having. I’ll always look at this family’s story with fresh, knowing eyes. A story that will live in my heart forever. Thank you, Alice Hoffman.

“I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

Alice Hoffman said in an interview with Simona Zaret­sky for Jewish Book Council that Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl was one of the reasons that she became a writer. So, it is only fitting that she wrote a book reimagining the life of Anne Frank, giving her wings and letting her fly. This is a very poignant book because readers know of Anne's life through her journal that her father published after her death. It is also a very timely and fitting read due to the rise of antisemitism during this time in history. If you have not read The Diary of a Young Girl, I highly encourage you to do so.

“I've found that there is always some beauty left -- in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself; these can all help you.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

This book follows Anne, her sister, Margot and her family after they moved to Amsterdam and the subsequent events that altered not only Anne's life but her family's life as well. Anne was a dreamer, a writer, a thinker, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter. and a deep feeling girl. She wanted to experience the world, she had dreams, aspirations, and hopes for her life as we all do. Her imagination soared as did her insight and positive viewpoint.

“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank

I loved how Alice Hoffman brought Ann to life once again. This book is geared for Middle School readers, but it is a wonderful and poignant book for readers of all ages. Alice Hoffman's writing is beautiful as always. She provides a heartfelt and descriptive reimagining of Anne’s life. Hoffman stays true to history and what is known of Anne, her family, and her relationships.

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” ― Anne Frank

Beautifully written, heartfelt, moving, When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary is a book for middle age readers and up!

This book was a great intro into Anne Franks's story. It shines a light on her experiences coming of age during such a tumultuous time. I think this is a great primer into Diary of a Young Girl since it leads right up to this.

P.S the author's note at the end made this book all worth it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic Press for a copy of this book. It is out today!!

Always love Alice Hoffman. Definitely a book for library purchase. Thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Anne Frank's diary begins on her 13th birthday, the day on which she received the diary as a gift. In this novel, the Alice Hoffman has written Anne's story as it might have happened - with as much historical accuracy as possible - up to the day when her family moved into hiding, covering slightly more than the year before. Poignantly sad, this volume shows the seemingly slow, and yet disturbingly rapid evolution of a society being led into exterminating a significant portion of its population, for the unforgiveable sin of being who they were born to be - not even for their actions or their thoughts, but simply for their genetic heritage. As with many stories about the Holocaust, it is a cautionary tale. This book, prequel as it is intended to be to the well-known Diary of Anne Frank, is particularly moving, because even knowing the story, the events are written in such a clear and engaging that they can still take the reader by surprise. This is a wonderful companion novel to the original Diary, and could be read before or after, at the reader's preference. Recommended for readers ages middle school to adult.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When I saw that Alice Hoffman wrote a YA book about Anne Frank I knew I had to request it because I was curious to see how she would tell her story. Turns out I was right to be because this was very different from what I was expecting, but in a good way. This was the author’s imaginative take on what Anne’s life would have been like before she went into hiding, beginning when she was just a small child experiencing the worsening conditions for Jews in the Netherlands. The story takes a look at the Frank family dynamics as they start to realize that the optimism that they once shares may have been misplaced and that good doesn’t always defeat evil.
There’s a lot of symbolism in the story (wolves, black moths, etc) and that may be lost on some readers but it was definitely vividly depicted. It definitely has Hoffman’s distinct flair for poetic prose and she definitely put in the rock to research the story.
Thanks to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Alice Hoffman's "When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary" is a touching tribute to Anne Frank's story. Hoffman portrays a poignant picture of one of history's most beloved figures, offering readers a glimpse into Anne Frank's life before the fear of Nazi occupation took over. In her novel, Hoffman provides an emotional portrayal of Anne's vibrant spirit and courage, which ultimately define her legacy.
Hoffman adeptly captures Anne's bold personality, sharp wit, mischief, and growing wisdom. The image of Anne painted in the book is that of a real girl with her own dreams, fears, and passions.
"When We Flew Away" is a tribute. Hoffman has created a novel that strikes a brilliant balance between history and fiction. It's clear to the reader that Hoffman has conducted meticulous research and crafted a novel that fully immerses the reader in the historical context. As tensions increased with the rise of Nazi occupation, Hoffman offers readers haunting details of the mounting fear and terror that the Frank family experienced. Despite the turmoil, Hoffman never loses sight of Anne's remarkable humanity, a testament to both her strength and vulnerability.
If Anne Frank's diary touched your heart, then 'When We Flew Away' is a must-read.

This was a wonderful age appropriate story of what Anne Franks’s like was like prior to goi g into hiding. Alice Hoffman Duda fabulous job of keeping violence out of the story so it would be suitable for our younger readers. I think this should be required reading by the 6th grade. We must remember.

Anne Frank and her family lived in the Netherlands before the Nazis began accumulating power and restricting more and more freedoms of the people. This is the story of her life before they went into hiding, which was detailed in her now famous diary, published posthumously by her bereaved father.

I was drawn to this book mostly because of Alice Hoffman's skill in writing deeply emotional novels. This book outlines the Frank family's life in the Netherlands after they left Germany ahead of Kristallnacht. They were lucky, as most countries in that period had quotas for Jewish refugees, or closed their borders entirely. We see Anne with friends, with her sister, with her parents and grandmother. As years pass, there are bombs, Germans invading, school closures, and fewer things that Jews were allowed to do. It grew harder for Anne's parents to hide it from her or her older sister Margot.

If you've ever read Miep's story in addition to Anne Frank's diary, then you'll recognize parts of this book. Those that the Franks were friends with had tried their best to get them out of the country, then to hide them. It's heartbreaking to see how the Dutch children fell in line with the Nazis and began harassing Jewish children as if they hadn't been friends the year before, how soldiers threatened people, and the tenor of the city changed to one of fear. We know how that story ends, which makes each page closer to the end that much more heartbreaking. Some of the conversations are fictionalized and extrapolated from what we do know, which serves to flesh out all of these people. This is a novel that should help the reader remember the past and ensure it never happens again.

Title: When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary
By: Alice Hoffman

Pub. Date:
September 17, 2024


Genre:
Middle Grade, Fiction, Holocaust, WWII

Red Flags:
Death, Loss, Trauma, Grief, Holocaust

Favorite Quotes:
“When you write it down, they cannot pretend it never happened.”
“Dreams are the beginning, he always told Anne. They’re the stories we tell ourselves.”
“Fear has a way of staying with you, even when you tell yourself you're safe.”

Summary:
The Netherlands are invaded by the Nazi’s and life begins to shift and change for the Frank Family. Anne is a typical 13 year old, inquisitive, determined and full of life. With a strong relationship with her sister Margot and a love for her family, especially Oma, the author has recreated loveable characters, filled with dreams. The author engages the reader with a plotline demonstrating the simplicity of life, prior to “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The mood of the book begins to shift as the signs of war slowly manifest into the full fledged war.

Review:
Hoffman does a wonderful job preparing the reader for the life before the Frank family goes into hiding. I felt the familial relationships were realistic, and the characters were likable. My concern with the novel is the target audience.

As a middle school educator, I’m very reluctant this book will capture the hearts of middle grade readers, there isn’t enough suspense and depth, however, paired as a read aloud, using talking points prior to the class novel of “The Diary of Anne Frank” when paired together both novels would increase student engagement, understanding and overall empathy for Anne Frank.

The four stars when considering the middle grade audience. It can be trickier for adult authors to navigate writing middle grade fiction. As an adult, I enjoyed the additional information and perspective leading up to Anne’s story, the story we’ve all come to know and love for years!

Thank you Alice Hoffman, Scholastic, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
#Whenweflewaway
#scholastic
#alicehoffman
#reluctantreaderreads
#advancedreadercopies
#netgalley

When We Flew Away is an honest, provocative look at what Anne Frank’s life may have been like before going into hiding. It’s a great book to accompany her famous diary, to use with a study of the Holocaust, or with creative writing students. Though fiction, it’s written after much research and feels like prequel to Frank’s diary.

It’s easy for us sitting here in our comfy Western lives to pass judgements about what people did or didn’t do as the Nazis cracked down on the Jewish people in Europe, but the truth is that their plans, while not held in total secrecy, were so horrible as to be unfathomable. When We Flew Away is the kind of book that allows us a glimpse into the heart and mind of those people. It allows us to see their struggles, their pain, their hopes and dreams and gives us the opportunity to understand them.

Mixed in with the story are bits of historical truths: bits of information unknown to the Franks and their contemporaries but the consequences of what they were experiencing at the time. These help to put the context firmly into place, no matter how knowledgeable the reader may be.

When We Fly Away has the potential to add new layers of learning to students of Anne Frank’s work. I hope you’ll read it yourself.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I, like many others, have read books about Anne Frank in the past. I have also read books by Hoffman, so I was interested in reading this one. It is a fictional story of what life could have been like for Anne and her family before they went into hiding. I did find the pace a bit slow. The omniscient point of view is not commonly used in books I read, so it was a bit harder to feel fully connected to the characters. The author's notes are a helpful addition to the book. The author does do a nice job of making Anne a bit more relatable children. I think this would be a good story to hear is an audiobook.

When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman, 304 pages. Scholastic Press, 2024. $16.
Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Before Anne Frank started writing in her diary, she lived a—mostly—normal life. Sure, her family fled to the Netherlands when Germany started imposing extra rules onto those of Jewish descent, but Anne (10yo) loved going to school and got into arguments with her mother and talked through math class. Until the night everything changed.
Hoffman flits between the whimsical Anne with poetic imaginings and the heavy facts of regulations on the Jewish people and death statistics. This fictitious prequel to The Diary of a Young Girl paints every member of Anne Frank’s family with mercy. Anne’s diary shows the difficulty that Anne had with her relationships with her mother and older sister, and Hoffman suggests that each of these characters could still have been motivated with love as they struggled to deal with this difficult time.
Anne and her family are German and Jewish. The mature content rating is for mentions of alcohol and illegal activity. The violence rating is for assault, death, and mentions of war, hate crimes, bombing, holocaust, and concentration camps.
Review: Carolina Herdegen

An absolute masterpiece! I loved getting to know Anne and her family before they went into hiding. Anyone who read her diary will never forget Anne Frank but reading this part of her life reminds us of what life may have been like before. As an adult it has encouraged me to go back and read her Diary again. It is a stain in history that we must never forget. Thank you Alice Hoffman for bringing a beautiful light onto the life of a girl we all thought we knew.

I am huge fan of this author but this arc came through so weird on my kindle it was hard to read. Excited to see people’s legit reviews.

"When We Flew Away" is a fictionalized account of Anne's years in Amsterdam after the invasion by the Nazis but before her family goes into hiding. Young readers will surely connect with young Anne as they get to know her in these pages, either because they've read her diary or because they will now be inspired to. I so wanted this to be a 5-star review, except that there was one glaring issue...

With a title like "When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary," I was expecting just that, a novel. I was hoping that Hoffman had written a fictionalized account in Anne's voice to help young readers connect with her during ages 10 to 13 of her life. However, this reads more like a didactic piece of nonfiction with Hoffman reporting events from Anne's younger years. It's all the more confusing, then, to read in the afterword "much of her life between the ages of ten and thirteen is invented in the pages of my novel." If Hoffman was going to write a historical fiction novel based on the one person from history who brings many young readers to the realization of the horrors of the attempted genocide of World War II, I wish she would have attempted to write it with Anne's unique voice. I wanted Hoffman to show us, rather than tell us, what Anne was like in these years. However, because of the value of this work, I'll keep it at 4 stars instead of 3.

Other teachers looking for clean, safe reads for their shelves should know that there are no content warnings for this one. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC provided in exchange for my honest review.

This was a wonderful companion novel to Anne Frank's diary. It tells the story of Anne's family move to Amsterdam and the events that lead up to them going in hiding. It explores the family relationships and hopes.

We hear from Anne's inner thoughts as she struggles with the changes around her. I enjoyed hearing about her friends, frustration with rules and overall childhood dynamic. I think this book adds to her story to show readers she was a regular girl before she had to go into hiding. I certainly learned things I did not know.

I think this book could appeal to many age groups as it was easy to read. The horrors were implied but not vivid. I did appreciate that. Thank you Netgalley for this chance to review this book.

Nearly every middle school student where I live is required to read “The Diary of Anne Frank,” so I was intrigued when I saw this book about exploring Anne and her family’s lives before the diary began.

The story begins with the Frank family having already relocated to the Netherlands, because it was a neutral country during the war. Anne is nearly 11 years old and enjoying her childhood filled with hopes, dreams, and freedom. The story slowly progresses over the next two years by exploring the changes that happened once Germany invaded the Netherlands and what happened to them and other Jewish people they knew.

I really liked that this book explained that Anne has not been raised as a religious Jew. Her family had more modern beliefs that they were simply German. It wasn’t until the Nazis came to power that she realized her family was labeled as Jews and were considered “different.” It was heartbreaking to read the passages where young Anne realized that her family was living in constant fear.

The story is slow-paced and repeatedly uses imagery like black moths, birds, and wolves to describe the darkness and danger heading towards the Frank family in a more indirect way for younger readers. However, since Anne’s diary is meant for a middle grade and older audience, I felt this book could have been a bit more direct and explained more about what was going on without going into graphic detail.

I would highly recommend this book for middle school students to read right after they’ve read Anne’s diary. As an adult, I think the author’s creation of this story was intriguing, and I really liked the strong family dynamic displayed between Anne and her sister, Anne and her father, Anne and her grandmother, and Anne and her mother. I would just recommend reading the diary again beforehand to reconnect with the characters and the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review.

This is the story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life. It is based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, It begins before the war, when nothing had changed for Anne and her family, and then shows how slowly, blow-by-blow the occupation happened, and how restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.

I remember reading The Diary Of Anne Frank in school and being so moved by it. Then now, we are going through a time once again where people are denying the Holocaust ever happened, who are glorifying Nazis who are spouting Nazi rhetoric and it is terrifying. This timely book is good for readers of The Diary Of Anne Frank at any age, young or old.