School Library Journal Review
YA This memoir reveals the writer to be a woman of great courage, who determinedly pursued a course of action founded upon deep humanitarian convictions despite great personal danger. Gies was the trusted employee to whom Otto Frank turned when his family was forced into hiding in their attempt to escape deportation and death. Teenagers who have read Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl (Doubleday, 1967) will surely want to read about Gies' adventures in secretly obtaining provisions for eight people for two years. The characterizations of the Frank family, particularly Anne, with whom Gies had a special friendship, are perceptive. Gies describes the day the Franks were captured, following their betrayal by persons still unknown. These vignettes and the description of what was happening in Amsterdam provide insight into how the Nazi occupation affected the lives of innocent people, and into the heroism of a remarkable woman, Miep Gies. Rita G. Keeler, St. John's School, Houston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Gies, now 78, recalls how during WW II she, her husband and some of her coworkers sheltered her boss Otto Frank, his family and several other Jews in a secret annex of their Amsterdam office building. Unfortunately, California freelance writer Gold's lackluster rendition contrasts sharply with the spirited, penetrating journal kept by Anne Frank, which Gies secreted from the Nazis and which later was published as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. In Gold's disappointing retelling, Gies proves to be an intensely private person and frugal with words, many of whose observations are hindsights (``I knew that . . . Anne's diary had become her life'') or dwell on externals like Anne's blossoming figure. Nevertheless, Gies's sincerity, humility and courage emerge from this simple testimony and will not fail to inspire readers. Photos not seen by PW. Major ad/promo; first serial to Family Circle; Literary Guild main selection; Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection. (May 24) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
As-told-to memoir by an old Dutch woman, nearing 80, who, with her husband, helped to shield the family of Anne Frank. Although Gies' story is weakened in the ghost-written format, it still remains well worth telling. Gies' recollections of the Frank family are sprightly, right from her being hired as kitchen help by the often tyrannical Mr. Frank, who promptly ordered her to ""make jam!"" Anne was four when Miep first met her, and the older woman watched her grow with sympathy. Her great service was, of course, locking up the girl's diary once the Nazis had captured the family. Stubbornly refusing to read the girl's record, for fear of invading her privacy, she kept the diary safe through the war years. She now says that had she read the diaries, she would have had to destroy them, so dangerous were they in the information they revealed about Miep's family and other sympathetic Dutch survivors. As a final historic irony, Miep and her husband came under suspicion, some 20 years later, of having turned in the Frank family to the Germans. They endured interviews with suspicious police, who were finally convinced of their innocence.The veracity of the smallest details in Gies' account may well never be proven, as she and her husband are the very last of the survivors of the Frank story. Nevertheless, the book stands as a testament to the few Dutch people who opposed the Nazis. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gies adds additional perspective to Anne Frank's moving diary via an affecting recollection of her association with the Frank family, whom she helped hide from the Nazis. (Ap 1 87 Upfront)
Library Journal Review
Most people are familiar with the story of Anne Frank and her diarycomposed as she and her Jewish family hid from Nazis for several years in an office building in the heart of Amsterdam. Now comes another side of the story, that of the woman who bravely served as the Franks' mainstay as they hid, even though she expected certain death if caught. Although the Franks were eventually found and arrested, Miep fortunately was not taken, and she saved Anne's diary, a message for posterity. This simply told, moving story gives a new perspective on Anne's life and belongs in most public and academic libraries. Literary Guild main selection. Pat Ensor, Indiana State Univ. Lib., Terre Haute (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.