The Diary of a Young Girl

Why I'd hand it to you

Anne Frank was thirteen when she started this diary, and she kept writing through two years of hiding with her family and others in a secret annex in Amsterdam. What surprises many readers is how normal she sounds: funny, moody, frustrated with the adults, thinking about boys and writing and her future. That ordinariness is what makes the ending so heavy. Some stretches are slow, day-to-day entries about the cramped life, and readers expecting a war narrative may drift. It is best read knowing you are hearing a real teenager, not a polished author. For teens and adults alike, it belongs on the shelf.

— Matt Jordan