The Diary of a Young Girl
Not recommended. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Anne is a Jewish girl who gets a diary for her thirteenth birthday. Soon her family must hide from the Nazis in secret rooms for about two years. Her diary is true, brave and very sad. Lumen does not recommend it for kids because of one grown-up passage, so ask a parent first. This is one of the most important books of the last century, and the writing is remarkable for a girl of thirteen to fifteen. It teaches hope and courage, and it puts a real face on the Holocaust. We honor Anne and her witness. Our rule is strict, though, and it applies here. In one short entry from early January 1944, Anne writes of wanting to kiss a girl friend and of asking to touch each other's bodies. That passage has been in every English edition since 1952, so no edition leaves it out. Under Lumen's rule on same-sex content, that makes the book Not recommended. If your child is assigned it at school, read that entry first and use the parent guide.
For parents
Lumen does not recommend this book, but many schools assign it, often in grade 8, so here is how to help. If you do read it together, read aloud no younger than about twelve, and keep independent reading to thirteen or fourteen and up. Common Sense Media says 11+. Do not shop for a safe edition. Every English edition since 1952 has the entry of early January 1944 (dated January 5 or 6 by edition), where Anne recalls wanting to kiss a girl friend and asking to feel each other's breasts. Read that entry yourself first. Then tell your child plainly, and kindly toward Anne, that a girl of fourteen wrote down private and confused feelings, that such feelings at that age are not an identity, and that the Church calls every person to chastity. The Definitive Edition (1995 in English) also adds anatomy passages and dirty jokes. Before you start, tell your child how the story ends. Anne died in a camp, and the diary stops without warning. Ask: how does Anne keep hope? Why does she fight with her mother, and is she fair to her? Use it to teach the fourth commandment. Teach that every person is made in the image of God, and that hatred of the Jewish people is a grave sin. Pair it with the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe or with The Hiding Place.