When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary

Prolific writer Alice Hoffman returns on the heels of her Nathaniel Hawthorne inspired novel, The Invisible Hour, with a young adult offering exploring another historical figure. This time, Hoffman turns her attention to the life of Anne Frank, before she wrote her diary, in When We Flew Away.

The novel focuses on the time around Anne’s thirteenth birthday as the Netherlands is occupied by Nazi forces. Hoffman deftly and compassionately renders the relationships within the Frank family, specifically that of Anne and her sister Margot. For those of us who know the diary Anne keeps while her family is in hiding, this novel certainly makes us even more empathetic to and horrified by what happened to that family as Hoffman makes them real people.

I should note that I don’t typically read YA work, but I’m a fan of Hoffman’s. I’m also an English teacher and have read and taught literature related to Anne Frank and the holocaust for over twenty years, so I’m not the perfect audience for this book. While it did not speak to me personally, I can see how young people, especially young women, first learning Anne Frank’s story may be riveted by this work. I can also see it as a strong addition to middle school classrooms as a supplemental text alongside the other major works studied from and about this time period.