Anne Frank Text Pairing

One of the many beauties of summer reading is that we have more time to read exactly what we want to read. Many of the people I know joke about how their To Be Read (TBR) stacks are so large that they are in danger of toppling, and despite endless hours of reading, only seem to grow and grow. After reading Donalyn Miller's Reading in the Wild (2014), I added a new type of TBR to my summer reading stack--my book gap. Donalyn defines a book gap as "the books we avoid or titles we haven't read in spite of popularity or acclaim." The first book I thought of was Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

I knew all about Anne Frank and her secret annex, but how in the world had I not read her diary? One of the free books I received at the IRA conference in May was Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Jacobson and Colon (2010.) I brought it home, and my 12 year old daughter immediately snatched it and took it to her room. Then, two weeks ago, when I went to see The Fault in Our Stars, I was entranced by Hazel and Gus's visit to the secret annex while in Amsterdam. So, I went to my library and got Anne's diary.

Anne's diary was so intriguing. The details Anne gave about the rooms in the annex and the 8 people who lived there were quite vivid. But, there were many things I had questions about. Since this was a diary written only from her perspective, what was I missing? What events had been shown only from her bias? What happenings were going on that Anne knew nothing about? The diary ends abruptly, and without the notes at the conclusion of the book, I was left wanting answers.

I ran to Katie's room and snagged the Graphic Biography.

This was the first time I'd ever read a graphic book, and I truly enjoyed it. Many of the answers I was wanting were included--there were photographs of the Frank family and their helpers, a diagram of the secret annex, more details on how the eight in hiding were discovered and their fates. I was provided with much more of a sense of closure than had I just read her diary.

I am so thankful that I closed this particular book gap and, in the process, was also able to delve into the genre of graphic books.