Title: Annexed
Author: Sharon Dogar
Genre: YA/Historical Fiction/Romance
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcaourt (10/4/2010)
Pages: 352
ISBN: 0547501951
Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex - but what about the boy who was also trapped there with her?
In this powerful and gripping novel, Sharon Dogar explores what this might have been like from Peter's point of view. What was it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her? Especially with your parents and her parents all watching almost everything you do together. To know you're being written about in Anne's diary, day after day? What's it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution? Or to just sit and wait and watch while others die, and wish you were fighting.
As Peter and Anne become closer and closer in their confined quarters, how can they make sense of what they see happening around them?
Anne's diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter's story takes us on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps. He details with accuracy, clarity and compassion the reality of day to day survival in Auschwitz - and ultimately the horrific fates of the Annex's occupants.
Life in hiding was far from easy. Riding on the kindness of friends to bring news, food, and water was an unfortunate way of life. Living in fear, knowing any minute you may be found and forced under the Nazis' control was no life for a adult, much less a child. All these things can be learned through a diary of a young Jewish girl, Anne Frank. However, we only learn about life in the annex from Anne Frank's perspective. Sharon Gogar offers a fictional depiction of how life in the annex, as well as Anne Frank, might be viewed from another perspective. The perspective of Peter van Pels.
The story is about the hardships of living in hiding with numerous other people, specifically Anne Frank. Peter did not view Anne Frank as the world now views her. To him, she was an annoyance that brought him to feel anger and irritation. Though this is a story of fiction and no documentation of Peter's actual views was ever recorded, Dogar's storytelling weaves a tale of frustration, hatred, and eventually love. The events told lead up to the annex betrayal and follow Peter briefly through his time in the camps where he eventually passes on. The plot was well-written and maintained a steady pace. It kept me wanting to learn more about Peter and the others through a boy's point of view. Despite the sometimes awkward choice of punctuation/grammatical tense phrasing, it was a very enjoyable read. I recommend this to any reader who enjoys reading about the trying times during this time period. A note of caution: Because the author wants the events and feelings to be real, there are some portions in the book that deal with sexual desires on Peter's part. Because of this, I suggest this book be read by older teens.
Life in hiding was far from easy. Riding on the kindness of friends to bring news, food, and water was an unfortunate way of life. Living in fear, knowing any minute you may be found and forced under the Nazis' control was no life for a adult, much less a child. All these things can be learned through a diary of a young Jewish girl, Anne Frank. However, we only learn about life in the annex from Anne Frank's perspective. Sharon Gogar offers a fictional depiction of how life in the annex, as well as Anne Frank, might be viewed from another perspective. The perspective of Peter van Pels.
The story is about the hardships of living in hiding with numerous other people, specifically Anne Frank. Peter did not view Anne Frank as the world now views her. To him, she was an annoyance that brought him to feel anger and irritation. Though this is a story of fiction and no documentation of Peter's actual views was ever recorded, Dogar's storytelling weaves a tale of frustration, hatred, and eventually love. The events told lead up to the annex betrayal and follow Peter briefly through his time in the camps where he eventually passes on. The plot was well-written and maintained a steady pace. It kept me wanting to learn more about Peter and the others through a boy's point of view. Despite the sometimes awkward choice of punctuation/grammatical tense phrasing, it was a very enjoyable read. I recommend this to any reader who enjoys reading about the trying times during this time period. A note of caution: Because the author wants the events and feelings to be real, there are some portions in the book that deal with sexual desires on Peter's part. Because of this, I suggest this book be read by older teens.
My rating: 4 lattes because, despite the sometimes awkward grammar, it was an amazingly enjoyable read. Though the facts are completely fictional, Dogar does a tremendous job of creating feelings and events that likely could have been true.
Picture, information, summary from Netgalley.com and Houghtonmifflinbooks.com. Book courtesy of Netgalley.com.
How did you get the book? it's only supposed to come out till october!
ReplyDeleteI received the book courtesy of Netgalley.com. :)
ReplyDeleteOh Ok, but how did they give you permission to read it. Did you volunteer to review to the book or something? 'cause this is all confusing me lol. I see many people on the net saying how they've read the book and reviewing it ... o_O
ReplyDeleteYes. Netgalley allows you to download books to read and then review. All the books are e-books so you have to read them on a computer or an e-reader. You just sign up on their website and then find books that interest you. Once you find a book you'll click to receive it. You'll be granted permission and then you can download it to read. Hope that helps! Feel free to ask about anything! :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, about that can anyone just sign up there and download the book?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help!