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.

A story about Anne Frank before the diary, that introduces her to young readers who haven't ready her diary.

A glimpse into what Anne Frank’s life might have been like leading up to her family’s hiding. Although it is a slow start, the beautifully crafted writing held my attention. This book will be a welcomed addition to any middle-grades library.

It's easy to forget Anne Frank's humanity. It's easy to forget that before she even thought about writing a diary, Anne Frank was a little girl born in Germany and living much of her childhood in Amsterdam.

With "When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary," acclaimed writer Alice Hoffman has crafted a middle-grade historical novel that explores the Anne Frank we never knew.

Based upon extensive research, "When We Flew Away" is an immensely moving and informative novel richly humanizing one of history's most captivating and intriguing figures. We ultimately know how it ends, however, "When We Flew Away" creates a wider tapestry and lens through which we can understand the world in which Frank lived and the world it became.

Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl" was published posthumously, her father (the family's lone survivor of the concentration camps) having discovered the diary upon his post-war return to Amsterdam had been safely kept by his secretaries Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl.

"When We Flew Away" paints a vivid portrait of a family that relocated from Germany to Amsterdam believing themselves to be safe from Hitler's rise to power in German. Over time, and this is remarkably captured by Hoffman, the Nazi party would strengthen its grip on the Netherlands and life would be increasingly precarious as ordinary people became monsters and a community that had once been safe and loving would become anything but safe and loving.

We also get in touch with Anne Frank as aspiring writer.

Written in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, "When We Flew Away" is a beautifully written, impossible to forget novel and perhaps even a must-read for adults and middle-graders alike. For those new to the Anne Frank story, it's a vital way to really grasp what unfolded. For those who grew up reading "The Diary of a Young Girl," "When We Flew Away" is a necessary expansion of Frank's story that is so vital for understanding the life of a young girl and the horrific growth of the evil that would ultimately claim the lives of nearly her entire family.

"When We Flew Away" will not only help you understand the fullness of Anne Frank's story, but it will hopefully inspire all of us to do whatever it takes to eliminate such evil in the world.

This book is stunningly and tragically beautiful. Alice Hoffman has written a masterpiece of a book that honors Anne Frank (and her family and so many others who were lost). What is incredible is how she writes to give voice to Anne's story before her time in hiding. What is most amazing is how she does this in a voice that sounds and feels like Anne. She brings her thoughts, her feelings, and the essence of Anne to life through her work. Anne's story will always be one that is full of heartbreak, but there are also threads of hope and love, and again, Alice Hoffman brings that to this story. I know this will be a powerful read for kids, but I also took so much from reading this as an adult. The reflections on past, present and future are important, and again I cannot rave enough about this wonderful book. Thanks to Scholastic via NetGalley for the advanced look at this September 2024 release.

Excellent historical fiction book by this author! She did an amazing job tacking such a heavy topic without getting too dark for her audience. I especially appreciated her notes in the end, hearing how special this book was to her as a child and how it possibly impacted her as a writer. Here are my favorite parts from the books as these passages were very impactful to the narrative:
Hoffman

By 1940, German Jews were no longer allowed into parks or public schools or markets. Hate had become legal; it was everywhere.

People fled as if they were birds, for soon more
concentration camps were built, and any Jew who didn't flee would be trapped in a cage for which there was no key. They were called labor camps, and it was said that those brought there to work would return home when their work was completed, but in time, the Jews in Germany came to realize those who were taken would never come back.

This was the way it was; there were good people and there were evil people; even though you couldn't tell them apart by sight, you could tell the difference with your heart. You could feel who loved you and who was willing to risk everything to
save you.

"And yet they burn books. They throw them into metal trash cans and light a fire and then all the words that had been written fly away."
"What happens to the words then?" Anne asked. "They're remembered by everyone who ever read them."

The star that had been sewn onto her coat burned through her as if the fabric had been spun from pure hatred. Every stitch pierced through her as if it were a thorn. At night, she looked up at the sky and saw that there were still millions of stars right above her, all burning bright, but people on the street didn't notice them. They only saw the one that had fallen.

Everyone knows Anne Frank-- from her diary. This book combines historical facts with a fictionalized version of the years just before she she went into hiding. This is an important book that I hope to press into the hands of many around me. I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and Scholastic Press in exchange for an honest review.