Peter van Pels lies in a ‘hospital’ in a concentration camp designed to eliminate his people from the Earth. As he is ravaged by disease he remembers his terrifying and maddening ordeal of hiding two years in an attic growing from a boy into manhood stuck endlessly with his family and another: the Franks. As time goes on his loneliness and anger is softened by the optimism, hope, and gentle spirit of Anne Frank. You’ve heard her story, now see it gan through the eyes of the boy she loved.
This book, like Anne Frank Diary of a Young Girl (949.2 FRANK) is incredibly powerful, sad, nut ultimately uplifting. It is a fictional story based on real events so it is not the historical document that Anne Frank is, but it still has an impressive power and beauty like Anne Frank. My only criticism is that the story starts sort of slow, because Peter is very quiet and inward focused. However, this pays off because when Peter does slowly open himself up to romance with Anne it makes it all the more important and powerful. I urge anyone that hasn’t read Anne Frank to read it and when they are done to read Annexed. It really is a worthy companion piece and conveys the true horrors of genocide and the inspiring strength of a people that refused to be erased from history.The author has also included information at the end on what is fact and what is fictionalized and how she developed the fiction, which is very helpful for readers.
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