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The Diary of a Young Girl

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Book Synopsis

One of the most famous accounts of living under the Nazi regime of World War II comes from the diary of a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl, Anne Frank. Today, The Diary of a Young Girl has sold over 25 million copies world-wide; this is the definitive edition released to mark the 70th anniversary of the day the diary begins.

’12 June 1942: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support’

The Diary of a Young Girl is one of the most celebrated and enduring books of the last century. Tens of millions have read it since it was first published in 1947 and it remains a deeply admired testament to the indestructible nature of the human spirit.

This definitive edition restores thirty per cent if the original manuscript, which was deleted from the original edition. It reveals Anne as a teenage girl who fretted about and tried to cope with her own emerging sexuality and who also veered between being a carefree child and an aware adult.

Anne Frank and her family fled the horrors of Nazi occupation by hiding in the back of a warehouse in Amsterdam for two years with another family and a German dentist. Aged thirteen when she went into the secret annexe, Anne kept a diary. She movingly revealed how the eight people living under these extraordinary conditions coped with hunger, the daily threat of discovery and death and being cut off from the outside world, as well as petty misunderstandings and the unbearable strain of living like prisoners.

The Diary of a Young Girl is a timeless true story to be rediscovered by each new generation. For young readers and adults it continues to bring to life Anne’s extraordinary courage and struggle throughout her ordeal.

This is the definitive edition of the diary of Anne Frank, edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler.

Anne Frank was born on the 12 June 1929. She died while imprisoned at Bergen-Belsen, three months short of her sixteenth birthday. This seventieth anniversary, definitive edition of The Diary of a Young Girl is poignant, heartbreaking and a book that everyone should read.

Our Review Panel says...

This is the definitive edition of The Diary of a Young Girl, which details the experiences of Anne Frank as a Jewish girl whose family fled Nazi occupation during World War II. 

Anne’s story is written in diary format and provides details of the months leading up to her time in hiding, background about her family and the political situation in Germany and then the Netherlands. The diary depicts Anne’s short life from her hiding place in the Annexe until she was discovered in 1944. It also gives details about those she was in hiding with and the very brave people who kept them safe.

The book is now considered a classic and is accessible for secondary school children – with language and themes appropriate for children in Key Stage. The book could be used in schools in a wider teaching context or for children to read in their own time, although discussion around the events of the book is always recommended. Anne’s is no ordinary diary and the gravity of the historical and political context needs to be keenly felt, particularly as our children grow up in an age where it would seem they need to be alert to hate crimes, extreme political movements and discrimination in various forms.

Nonetheless, her story is a remarkable and eye-opening one that – despite its dark historical context – also celebrates acts of courage in the face of adversity, making it a key text for readers in Key Stage 3.

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The Diary of a Young Girl

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