School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-- Brown begins this easy-to-read biography with a brief but interesting explanation of why this child's life and private thoughts are of interest to today's youngsters. The information that follows is accurate and is presented in a lively, straightforward manner. Anne Frank is described as a high-spirited young girl who talked too much in class and who giggled at boys at age 11. She is very much a real person with endearing and sometimes mischievous character traits. Her story is anchored firmly in the events of the time, both in Germany and the Netherlands; there is enough historical information presented to provide readers with a sense of time and place. Approximately half of the book describes the Franks' experiences in hiding and includes details of daily routines and cramped living conditions. Vintage black-and-white and sepia photographs also provide a good historical backdrop. --Susan Kaminow, Arlington County Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Phot. Anne Frank lives through the diary she kept when she and her family hid with four others in an annex of an office building in Amsterdam. The sparseness of dates in the body of the text leads to some confusion about what happened when, but the book does capture the time and the events, including Anne's death, and should lead readers to the original and best source - the diary. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In ``The Library of Famous Women'' series, an easily read biography with enough historical data to provide a clear context and many photos of people, places, and events. The bulk of the book covers the period of the diary, which is discussed with some depth and sensitivity, though sidebar quotes from Anne herself shine in comparison to Brown's rather pedestrian style. The beginning and concluding sections, especially, are awkwardly written, with choppy sentences and illogical transitions. An adequate supplementary book. Brief glossary and bibliography; index. (Biography. 9-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 5-7. Two biographies in the Library of Famous Women series (first reviewed under Ball [BKL Mr 15 91]) convey a sense of the individual lives as well as their fierce struggles with oppression.Anne Frank died in Belsen at 15, and Brown's clear, nonhistrionic account tells of her life before she went into hiding, of the events recorded in her diary, and of her subsequent capture, deportation, and death. Occasional photos show Anne's daily life as well as the general persecution. This could introduce middle-grade readers to the famous diary and to the background events in Germany and Holland, the rise of Nazism, and the genocide.Edelman's life story focuses on her leadership role as champion of poor children in the U.S., from the 1960s through today. There are some posed pictures with sweet kids, but the statistics from her Children's Defense Fund are dramatic, and readers will be held by the searing facts about child poverty and teenage pregnancy as well as by the portrait of a strong political activist.Both books have glossaries and brief bibliographies, but no source notes. ~--Hazel Rochman
