Really 3.5 stars, but I round up because this prequel to <i>The Diary of a Young Girl<i> is an important reminder of the fragility of decency in this moment of rising, global antisemitism.

Far be it from me to tell one of my long-time favorite authors, Alice Hoffman, how to write. But for the first third of the book, I was really caught off guard by how awkward the writing was. It bounced unevenly between italicized, lyrical sections, written in a completely different voice, and simpler sentences and straightforward vocabulary in the storytelling mode, more suited for school-aged readers. Frequent insertions of textbook-y historical facts seem like they could have come more naturalistically from the mouths of characters, like Anne's beloved father Otto who could be explaining to his dreamer daughter.

In addition, many details and characterizations are repeated beyond what the reader needs, and the metaphors of the black moths, rabbits and wolves, and magpie become heavy handed with so much use. Much more powerful are the disturbing details of incidental cruelties, much less Nazi behavior.

By the last third, I let all these criticisms go. The sense of urgency of the Jewish people's situation, and Hoffman's imagining what happened to Anne and the family, became propulsive.

This is definitely a book for Anne fans. As ever, Anne is a charmer, a bit rebellious, and self-insightful: "She wasn't happy being almost eleven, but she would be when she was older. She was sure of it." Hoffman is clearly more at ease with the historical fiction narrative, where she could allow her imagination to fly, just like Anne. She seems to enjoy writing about Anne's friendships, favorite spots, and first love, and consequently, I enjoyed it, too.

Anne's reveries and dreams for the future are ever poignant, because we know what happens. Perhaps students or first-time readers of the diary won't. I'm not sure how well this novel would read for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for this Advance Reader Copy.

This novel seeks to fill in the parts of Anne Frank's life that we don't know--the time before she went into hiding and journaled her experiences. Alice Hoffman does a fantastic job weaving a narrative of emotions, fear, anxiety, and hope. I was riveted by this story and recommend it for anyone who has read Anne Frank's diary. This is a beautiful tribute to Anne.

[I received a review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.]

When Scholastic announced the publication of <B><I>When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary</I></B> by Alice Hoffman was announced earlier this year, I was both excited and tentative.

I do think that a historical fiction novel about Anne Frank aimed at younger readers (on their website, Scholastic suggests this book for 8-12 year olds) may be a way for a new generation of readers to become interested in Anne's story before they are ready to read her diary.

Anne Frank has not often been the subject of historical fiction, and even then, most examples of historical fiction featuring Anne Frank are picture books or books utilizing Anne as a peripheral character rather than focusing on Anne as a primary character.

Unfortunately, I really struggled with this book and I have trouble imagining most student-age children wanting to read it or feeling engaged with it.

The book is incredibly lyrical and fanciful, and almost the entire story (what little there is of an actual story, due to said lyrical and fancifulness often taking pages and pages simply to muse on subjects rather than propel any narrative) is written in a passive "tell, not show" style that quickly becomes wearisome.

Very rarely do any of the characters in the story feel like real people that you might read about in any other historical fiction. This is primarily because Hoffman writes in a lyrical third person omniscient style, we are constantly told how characters act and feel.

We are told Anne is this way, we are told the grandmother feels that way; very rarely do we get any information through character action or dialogue. On the rare occasions when we do, this is often immediately followed up by yet another barrage of explanatory, lyrical sentences that tell us everything without allowing the story to show.

If anyone in the family happens to behave in a way that might seem unpleasant, Hoffman is quick to reassure us that actually, they only behaved that way because of some specific explanation. Then we get metaphorical sentences for at least a paragraph or two before moving on.

The omniscient style extends into the future as well, as throughout the book we learn about events that are yet to come, such as the deaths of certain percentages of Jewish people from a certain city, and the fate of Jewish people in Europe in general.

If the story had been written from the perspective of some otherworldly narrator (like "Death" in <I>The Book Thief</I>) then perhaps this would have felt fitting.

As it is, it only works to further detach <I>When We Flew Away</I> from the realm of historical fiction that seeks to present real people and events and closer into a heavy metaphorical narrative non-fiction.

Due to this style, it is only rarely that anyone in the book feels like a person with real thoughts or behaviors. Everyone almost feels like an exalted metaphorical figure, already knowing their fates and behaving like whimsical metaphors. Anne in this book does not feel like Anne from her diary or the Anne recounted by those who knew her.

There are a few stand out moments where the characters feel real--a moment when Anne is accosted by a Nazi after she stands too long near an ice rink; her father's excitement when he thinks they have finally made progress in seeking refuge in America--but these are vastly outnumbered by the constant metaphors and lyrical prose.

While Hoffman does occasionally allow a little of character to show in Anne, it quickly jumps back to presenting Anne as this sort of vague, whimsical, adult-in-a-child's body character who constantly sees metaphorical black moths encroaching on her world.

Hoffman's writing is not bad. There are some beautiful passages in here. The trouble is that the entire book is written in this fanciful omniscient passive style that feels catered more towards adults who read middle grade than actual middle grade readers who might be looking for an engaging historical fiction story.

When reading the novel, I couldn't help but think about recent social media posts discussing this very issue: how middle grade books are more and more catering to adults who buy them for kids, and not the children themselves.

This might be a perfect read for someone looking for an evocative, lyrical book. Unfortunately, it wasn't right for me.

When We Flew Away describes Anne Frank’s life from her arrival with her family to Amsterdam after they fled Nazi Germany until they went into hiding. While it focuses on what her life was like then, I think the true value lies in the insight into what life was like for the Jewish people in Amsterdam prior to the Nazis arrival and just after they exerted their control over the Netherlands.
This book also differs from Anne Frank’s diary because it is predominantly written in third person. That doesn’t distract from the narrative. It adds to the story’s purpose, which I believe is to provide a context for reading Diary of a Young Girl.
The story additionally gives insight into Anne’s personality. She was a dreamer who hoped for escape to freedom in America and found real freedom through writing in her diary. Anne doted on her father, struggled to understand her mother and gain her approval, was devoted to her grandmother who seemed to understand her better than anyone, admired her sister’s perceived perfection and later grew inseparable from her, and yet yearned to be loved. As a result of that insight, I think in hindsight , Anne’s story is more comprehensible.
I am glad I read this book. I would recommend that it be read up to the point where they enter into the hiding place . I would then begin reading Anne’s diary to its end and then return to When We Flew Away, reading its conclusion and the afterword.

I cannot wait to share this with my middle school students. When we study The Diary of Anne Frank, their biggest questions are “how could this happen?” and “why didn’t they just escape”? This poignant, beautifully written story chronicles the years leading up to the Franks seeking refuge in the Secret Annex. Hoffman does an amazing job bringing Anne and Margot to life, exploring what it must have felt like to lose all control and fall victim to such hate. There is so much figurative language that can be unpacked and analyzed. I highly recommend this for all young adults and teachers of this subject.

Thank your @netgalley, @scholastic, and @ahoffmanwriter for this ARC. I enjoyed it so much! Any chance this book will have a Spanish translation?! I would love it for our Spanish dual language students. 😀

Alice Hoffman’s latest creation, When We Flew Away, is a poignant and historic account of the time leading up to World War II and, more specifically, a glimpse into the life of the beloved Anne Frank and her family before they were forced into hiding. Equal parts breathtaking and horrific, you will surely find yourself remembering the strength and dignity that Anne held onto during this time of absolute and utter devastation and despair. This book is a must read.!

This is a touching, beautifully written telling of Anne Frank’s story. I enjoyed reading this and how it was told.

You know the diary. Now you can know how Anne lived before she wrote that classic book full of stories in hiding. I was so excited to read this and even more delighted reading it. Rarely does a book live up to the hype, yet this book exceeds it. This is a mandatory title for any book collection.

Anne and Margot walk home from school, not realizing that Nazi occupation is coming and their lives will never be the same.

This book starts a few years before Anne Frank's well-known diary, when Anne is eleven. It follows daily life as Amsterdam is overcome by the Nazis and life for Jews gets increasingly dangerous. Anne is in regular conflict with her mother, who criticizes Anne for dreaming of being an actress, but Anne's grandmother is her special friend.

This book sacrifices a lot in order to be lyrical and pretty. Namely, not much happens. In chapter one, we get an info dump as the girls do nothing while walking home from school. In chapter two, the girls listen while their parents argue about Anne's dreaminess. Yet this somehow takes up 43 pages. And I won't say that it isn't lovely prose that's full of interesting facts. But I also can't say I know who this book is for. It's labeled as middle grade, but none of my students would be captivated by it. I was ready to quit within the first 10 pages because I was bored, and I don't know if I could recommend this to anyone who's under the age of fourteen and isn't extremely interested in the minutiae of how life slowly changed as Hitler conquered Amsterdam. I also was puzzled by the characters. I was informed that this book is extremely well-researched, but Hoffman's Anne reminded me more of Anne of Green Gables than the girl I met in Anne Frank's Diary, and I found this disconcerting. The narration often used telling techniques to show Anne's character, which rendered her rather flat and not very interesting. While there's certainly character development and some interesting scenes sprinkled here and there amid the backstory and description, I struggled to reach the end of this book and often found myself skimming large chunks to stave off sleepiness.

If you have read any of Alice Hoffman's other works and liked their lyrical style, and if you have an interest in WWII, I suggest you give this book a try. It definitely has Hoffman's distinct flair for poetic prose and cryptic symbolism, and it's obvious that Hoffman put in the work to be able to authentically describe life in that time and place.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

What I enjoyed about this book was likely why Alice Hoffman wrote it- an early memory in my life about reading Diary of a Young Girl. When I read that book as an adolescent, it opened up a lifetime of learning and understanding that the atrocities of the Holocaust needed to be studied and remembered. I will likely read Diary of a Young Girl again as it has been many years.
While this book was ambitious, and Alice Hoffman is one of my all-time favorite writers, the story really felt like she was trying to make something out of nothing. It is a tough job to imagine what real people were doing at a period of time in their lives, but during the period this book spans, there really wasn’t much to write about. That is what the book felt like. I found myself skimming over the end of the book.
Thank you NetGalley for a ARC.

One of the reasons I requested this book was because of the extensive research that went into telling the story of this part of Anne Frank’s life. However, it is important to keep in mind this is still a fictionalized account of her life in the years leading up to her diary. This was one of the best historical fiction books I have ever read. It is heartwarming and heartbreaking.

3.5 stars rounded up. I wanted to love this book, but it didn't read well for me. It was very slow to start, no dialogue, and quite frankly a bit boring. It is a work of historical fiction. The book picked up after the first 100 pages and was more fast-paced and interesting. However, for the book to be written for middle school age, I can't see many kids finishing this book.

▪️Most people know the tragic end of Anne Frank’s story, but what about her life before she and her family went into hiding? “When We Flew Away” offers a poignant glimpse into that period.

▪️The book primarily focuses on Anne and her sister Margot, but also highlights their parents and grandmother. It delves into their exile to the Netherlands, the new life they built there, the restrictions and racism they faced when the Nazis invaded, and their unsuccessful attempts to emigrate to the United States. The story concludes as they go into hiding, a part of the story we all know.

▪️Reading about how Anne and Margot lived their lives—enjoying school, reading, celebrating birthdays, noticing boys, dreaming of the future, and doing all the things young girls do—makes their ultimate fate even more heartbreaking.

▪️Although categorized as Middle Grade, this book is a must-read for everyone. If you haven’t read “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank yet, I recommend starting with that. Knowing the ending of Anne’s story makes “When We Flew Away” even more emotional and profound.

Thank you @Netgalley and Scholastic Press for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I love Alice Hoffman’s writing, and I have long been a fan of her work, but her latest novel, When We Flew Away, awed me with its beautiful blend of devastating history and fairy tale enchantment. When We Flew Away tells the heavily researched but fictional story of Anne Frank and her family who have taken shelter in Amsterdam to escape the horrors of the Nazi regime. Although the family has found relative safety at the outset of the novel, they are aware of the growing dangers facing those of Jewish ancestry and faith, and they are actively seeking safety in America. As political circumstances in the Netherlands become dire over the two year span of the novel, the family struggles to maintain the artfully cultivated sense of peace that has helped them to survive in the face of overwhelming cultural and personal despair.

In When We Flew Away, Hoffman weaves the history of Anne Frank and her family with myth, legend, and fairy tale to a brilliant effect. Anne and her older sister Margot, who are analogous to the two sisters featured in The Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Snow White and Rose Red,” are as different from one another as they can be. Margot follows the rules, while Anne, who is gifted with an incredible imagination, likes to break them. Anne believes in wishing, and she sees the Netherlands as a world of ice in winter and tulips in spring, an outlook that later aligns with Hoffman’s brilliant exploration of life and death in the myth of Demeter, Persephone, and Hades. Anne questions why men have more freedom than women and wonders why people fall in love. She talks to the magpies, dreams of becoming a writer, and pretends the stars her family are forced to wear have fallen from the sky because “you {have} to pretend some things in order to remain human.” While war rages around them, moving ever closer, the Frank family finds a way to live in the shadow of death, navigating both joy and loss, ultimately concluding that “love is everything, love is everywhere, it’s the one thing they can never take away from you.”

The title of the novel When We Flew Away refers to the flight of Jewish people trying to escape persecution, but it also refers to our desire to break the bonds of earth and soar away to a place more humane than the one we occupy, a place where Anne Frank, who died at the tender age of fifteen, might have lived to share her potential with the world. And yet, as sad as the stark realities behind both The Diary of Anne Frank and When We Flew Away are, the texts provide hope to their readers. In her author’s note at the back of the book, Hoffman explains that when she read Anne Frank’s diary as a child, it changed the person she would become and helped her to realize she could be a writer. Now, Hoffman has used her own brand of story magic to breathe new insight into the life and death of Anne Frank and all those who perished with her. Hoffman’s fictional account, which is highly recommended by the executive director of the Anne Frank House, adds poignancy and meaning to the history of World War II and the stories we tell about it. Anne Frank’s words changed Alice Hoffman’s life, and Alice Hoffman’s words will help a new generation of readers to discover Anne Frank, proving that even when hate seems strong, love is stronger, and that even when books are banned, stories will always go on. Both Frank and Hoffman teach readers that storytelling and imagination can transform and save the world.

“What happened once can happen again,” this book explains, and if there was ever a time to understand our history and contemplate the stories we tell about it, that time is now. Hoffman’s ability to honor the content of Anne Frank’s diary while embellishing her experience with fictional detail is pure literary enchantment, and it will help readers to better understand the pain and loss behind the historical statistics they learn in school. In Hoffman’s skilled hands, Anne Frank becomes a fully formed little girl with strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and dreams. When We Flew Away will move readers to tears, but it will also fill them with an appreciation for life itself. Hoffman’s stunning novel ensures that the story of the holocaust and the people who lived through it will never be forgotten.

When We Flew Away is a novel I plan to teach in my Young Adult Literature and Children’s Literature classes, and I will recommend that my students, who are all future K-12 teachers, share the book with their students as well. Read on its own or paired with The Diary Of Anne Frank, Hoffman’s novel will provide a wealth of opportunities for children and adults to contemplate the darkest and brightest aspects of human life, and it should be required reading for every student in America and around the world.

When We Flew Away is a heartbreaking, breathtaking, and beautifully crafted book.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.

WHEN WE FLEW AWAY: A NOVEL OF ANNE FRANK BEFORE THE DIARY
BY: ALICE HOFFMAN

The main reason why I chose to read this is because Alice Hoffman has always been one of my favorite authors. I didn't know when I requested, When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary, I have either forgotten the synopsis description or most likely I just saw that Alice Hoffman had a new book that was due to be published. Regardless, I didn't know that this was a fictional account of Anne Frank and her family before the diary. It was very sad and a gut wrenching portrayal that is backed up by meticulous research and done written in conjunction with collaboration with the Anne Frank Museum. It seemed so extremely painful to read since it felt to be authentic in capturing increments of the Frank family lives during the few years that they lived in Amsterdam before the family went into hiding. That's when this ends and like most people I knew how tragically the outcome was, but I hoped it didn't end how my logical mind knew how it would be devastating and it was.

At first I found this to be repetitious, and one of the most distracting ARCS I've yet encountered. It had missing text. On every page in capital letters in between the middle of a sentence it contained the words saying how it was a review copy only it said more instructions than that. I can overlook the repetitious narrative since I just discovered it was written for a Middle Grade audience. I hope that the final publication copy edits the format, by hopefully and specifically removing the review copy instructions. Other than that Anne's first person point of view felt very real to me as I read it, and I think that as sad as it was I'm grateful to have read it. The writing by Alice Hoffman was impeccable and it reminded me of the Anne Frank that I remembered from her diary, which I read when I was about nine or ten years old. It left a life long impression on me. As I read this prequel, fictional account it reminded me very much of Anne Franks, The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank published by her father Otto Frank after the family perished.

In the beginning, it starts out with Anne telling the reader how beautiful her sister was and how her sister was much better behaved. Anne's never been told outright by her father and her grandmother who had to sleep in the dining room which was her mother, Edith's mother--of how she felt she was the favorite child. Anne tells the reader that her father thinks their move from Germany to the Netherlands is far enough away for them to be safe. Anne notices the nature and beauty around their new home. She is only ten or eleven, but can't wait to grow up so that she can do whatever she chooses. She has hopes of living in California and seeing the Pacific Ocean. The novel follows events happening in Germany and at some point Poland gets invaded and occupied by the Nazi's. One theme that I can't stop thinking about is her father's belief in the goodness of people while hatred and people of Jewish ethnicity are being beaten and sent off to Concentration camps for their heritage by a madman which is Hitler's crazy ideology. For no reason other than being of Jewish descent. Anne and her sister eavesdrop on their parents quarreling, and learn of what's taking place. Her father had a wonderful philosophy and it showed how I agree with him on that's how things should be. Sadly, as we all know people are for the most part full of goodness, but with Hitler's reign of terror he convinced enough people to spread their hate and antisemitism that made too many innocent people lose their belongings, homes and lives.

As time passes and the campaign of hate and evil continues to spread, Anne's father tries to get his family to the United States. He had a powerful contact in New York, and his wife's brothers who lived in Massachusetts, who he wrote to for securing safe passage for his family, but it was too late. The United States stopped letting people from Europe into the Country. Also, other Countries such as Switzerland aren't viable alternatives either. Meanwhile, the Nazi's had invaded the Netherlands taking freedom they all had away little by little. Anne's father kept saying that he should have sent his two daughters to Great Britain. Anne is aware of their privileges being stripped away, and notices the birds have all flown away except the Magpies. She sees Goblins and black moths which I assumed was imagery from a young Anne's imagination reacting to the ever changing growing list of things nobody could do anymore.

This felt so authentic to me that I highly recommend it to everybody. It's very heartbreaking, so each person has to decide for themselves if they are in the frame of mind, to read this tragic prequel, which even though it's fictional, it's no less an upsetting reading experience. It portrays Anne as brave and wise beyond her years who knows there is power in the written word. After I finished it, I was so sad, but felt it was an important novel, that although heavy and painful was worthy of my discomfort, to honor Anne's memory, of such an intelligent child who considered books as though they are friends.
I hope that this reaches as wide of an audience that it deserves. It deserves much more than Five Stars!

Publication Date: September 17, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Alice Hoffman and Scholastic--Scholastic Press for generously providing me with my wonderful ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#WhenWeFlewAway #AliceHoffman #ScholasticScholasticPress #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for an ARC of Alice Hoffman's When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary. When I saw there was a book coming out about Anne Frank by Alice Hoffman, who I know is a fabulous author, I knew I had to read the book. I was so happy that my request for an ARC was accepted.

I have read many books about the Holocaust and also many novels about real people where situations in their lives are fictionalized. This book disappointed me. I am unsure if it was because I didn't realize it was a middle school/YA book or because of the book itself. I found the book to be repetitive, and I'm not sure it would make a lot of sense to someone who doesn't know about Anne Frank and her story or more about the Holocaust in general.

This is touching and emotional retelling of Anne Frank’s life before we “knew” her, in the time leading up to going into hiding with her family. Alice Hoffman has a way of immersing you in a story and in the character’s lives. I cared deeply about each character throughout, especially knowing how Anne’s story ultimately ends. If I were a middle grade ELA teacher, this book would be read each year.

It was a lovely follow up after reading Anne's diary. One of my favorite books from childhood. This author captured Anne's personality as well as her sister's and the family dynamic prior to the family going into hiding. It was enjoyable to read and she presented Anne in such a way that you knew how smart and how worried she was about what was happening in her life!

Normally I don’t read Holocaust fiction b/c there are so many true stories out there, why would I waste my time reading made up stories? But when I saw that the author had worked with the Anne Frank museum and had obviously done their research, I was extremely interested. As a Jew, this story really reaches my heart on a personal level. I read The Diary of a Young Girl as most people did when I was a kid myself, not much younger than Anne, and her story was quite touching. I’ve also read A Friend Called Anne by Jacqueline Van Maarsden, a childhood friend of hers. So I was a bit better equipped than the average reader to see how well the author knew her subject and whether or not she could make this story believable.

Honestly, she does a lovely job. You’ll forget that it’s a fiction story and think that you’re actually reading from Anne’s point of view. I especially love that Margot got more attention in this book. It was nice to imagine what she must have been like and this book makes her sound like the lovely, caring big sister you know she tried to be. They were extreme opposite personalities and did not always get along, but I’ve never doubted that they loved each other very much and clung to the hope that they would see the end of the war and grow up into young women.

As we all know, neither of these lovely young girls made it out of the camps, but their memories live on through Anne’s words and those like Alice Hoffman, who try to do them justice. Zichronam L’vracha, may their memory be a blessing.

*I am grateful to have received this book for free in return for my honest opinion.*

I read the Diary of Anne Frank as a middle school student and it has always stayed with me. This fictional story of what life might have been like for Anne and her family and friends before the Franks had to go into hiding will make a great companion read to the Anne Frank's writing. The setting felt real and the events felt like real possibilities. This started very slowly for me and the pacing was slow too. The omniscient point of view took some time to get used to, but then I realized it made this book feel more like someone was telling me the story of this family. I appreciated the author's notes at the end, which will help readers transition into the original diary if they haven't already read it.