Searching for Anne Frank: Letters From Amsterdam to Iowa

ANNOTATION

Postcards underscore the contrast between Anne's life in Amsterdam and her pen pals' lives in America.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In the fall of 1939, ten-year-old Juanita Wagner of Danville, Iowa, picked a name from a list of pen pals provided by her teacher. She chose a girl her own age who lived in Amsterdam. The girl's name was Anne Frank. Through firsthand reports and interviews with Juanita's sister, Betty, friends of both Juanita and Anne Frank, as well as never-before-published photographs, Susan Goldman Rubin weaves the story of two girls -- one in America and one in the Netherlands -- against the backdrop of pending World War II, its brutal reality, and its aftermath.

In alternating chapters, Goldman Rubin describes the lives of Juanita and Anne before the war begins, then continues to tell their stories, as well as those of their sisters, Betty and Margot, as the war progresses. Juanita, Betty, and their mother witness the war from afar, aware of its presence only through radio, film clips, rationing, and watching schoolmates and friends leave for armed service. In tragic contrast, Anne, Margot, and their parents go into hiding, are discovered, and are sent to concentration camps. Only Anne's father survives. Although the girls only had the opportunity to correspond briefly, their letters and contrasting experiences offer a poignant and timely look at lives during wartime. The existing correspondence between Anne and Margot Frank and their pen pals in Iowa is on permanent display at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, California.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Although the promise of newly rediscovered correspondence from Anne Frank can hardly fail to generate excitement, the "letters" here (held since 1988 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center/Museum of Tolerance) are likely to disappoint. The correspondence consists of one letter each from Anne and her sister, Margot, to their new American pen pals (arranged through Anne's school), plus a postcard with Anne's comments about bridges and canals in Amsterdam, and the letters are understandably impersonal. Rubin (Degas and the Dance) even suggests, without explanation, that the girls' father may have had a hand in them: "It is believed that Anne's first draft was in Dutch, and then her father, Otto Frank, translated the words and had her redo the letter in English." The rest of the book revisits previously available information about the Franks, juxtaposed with the wartime experiences of the Frank girls' erstwhile pen pals, the sisters Juanita and Betty Wagner, from Danville, Iowa. Unfortunately, the book overdramatizes the connection between the Franks and the Wagners. For example, Rubin writes that the Wagner girls immediately replied to the letters reproduced here (dated April 27 and April 29, 1940), then "waited and waited" for responses and "wondered why" they heard nothing-even though by mid-May they knew, from their teacher, that Germany had invaded Holland and cut off communication. Abundant visuals include photos, movie stills and ephemera. Like the text, however, the contrast between the illustrations of wartime Holland and those of homefront America suggests a chasm more than a link. Ages 10-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

The life of Anne Frank from the fall of 1939 is set in counterpoint with the lives of sisters Betty and Juanita Wagner of Danville, Iowa. Juanita wrote a pen-pal letter to Anne in Holland in early 1940, receiving two replies in English, one of which still exists. Anne's sister, Margot, also wrote a letter to Betty, including photographs and postcards. In May, the Nazis invaded Holland, and there were no further letters. The author takes these letters as a starting point to juxtapose the lives of Betty and Juanita with Anne's recorded life. The Wagners had no way of knowing that Anne was Jewish, and they had limited knowledge of the war in Europe. Their lives changed rapidly as the war progressed and as they watched their friends leave for the war and tried to follow what was happening. The book alternates chapters that follow Anne's life with those tracing the experiences of the sisters as they continued with school and found jobs. After the war, the Wagners wrote again and received a response from Anne's father, Otto, who told them of his daughter's fate. The book continues with Otto's discovery of Anne's diary, his handling of the memoir, and the reactions of Betty and Juanita when the book and movie were released in the United States. In the late 1980s, Betty made public her possession of the original letters, now part of the Wiesenthal collection. The parallel approach enables readers to examine individual lives affected by the same world events. A perfect fit for a library's Holocaust collection, this book can also lead to a similar examination of other periods in history. VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J S (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined asgrades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2003, Abrams, 144p, Morrow

School Library Journal

Goldman explores the effects of World War II on America and the Netherlands through the letters of two pen pals. Although Juanita Wagner of Danville, IA exchanged letters with Anne Frank of Amsterdam only a few times, the author assumes the continuation of their friendship. Students will be drawn to this compelling story. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews