"HIDDEN LIKE ANNE FRANK: 14 True Stories of Survival," compiled by Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis, Arthur A. Levine Books, $16.99, 211 pages (nf) (ages 12 and up)
Anne Frank was not the only child hiding from Nazi soldiers during World War II because she was Jewish.
Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis have gathered the stories of 14 different Jewish Dutch citizens whose lives were thrown into disarray by World War II and the occupation by Nazi Germany and placed them side by side in one book — "Hidden Like Anne Frank: 14 True Stories of Survival."
These 14 people, now old men and women, tell the stories of their childhood and teenage years living in the Netherlands during the war. All of them were Jews and all of them were forced into hiding — just like Anne Frank.
This often meant staying far away from their parents and siblings with little or no news of where they had gone. It often meant staying with people they did not like, or in cramped spaces, with little or no food to eat. There were still times of joy and even laughter, but those times were often punctuated by the fear of Nazi soldiers charging in, discovering their hiding places and forcing them to go to concentration camps.
For the amateur historian, the complexities of war in all of its geopolitical, social, economic and cultural entirety may prove daunting. In many ways, "Hidden Like Anne Frank" serves as an entry point for understanding. How did World War II affect Jewish children and teens? How did they feel, and what did they see? What was it like to watch war unfold? These are questions that receive very specific answers — all of which may be more easily relatable to young children who have only a vague grasp of what Europe was like in the 1930s and 1940s.
The stories would be great to read aloud. These stories feel a lot like ones a grandparent would tell young grandchildren about his or her childhood long ago. The book also includes a glossary of terms that may be new to young readers.
"Hidden Like Anne Frank" is a family-friendly book with clean language and no sexual content, though it does include some suspenseful moments.
For videos and more information, see hiddenlikeannefrank.com.
Email: nsorensen@deseretnews.com
Twitter: sorensenate