Wow! Just wow! I was in my African American History class about two years ago and in passing my teacher mentioned "The Dairy of Anne Frank" and how he was appalled how today's students never read it and how it was taken out of the curriculum. He is a very well-educated man and whenever he recommended a piece of literature I subconsciously kept it in the back of my head. And I also enjoyed the books about the Holocaust that I've read before so I thought Anne Frank would be an interesting piece to consume. However, not gonna lie, I was intimidated. I thought it was going to be a classic and very complicated to read so when I found out there was a graphic novel adaptation, I was elated.

Now I'm not one to critique someone's story because I did have a few qualms with how the story was told, but after reading the author's note I recognize that the artist had to omit certain pieces of information so that it could correlate with the drawings which is understandable. Following along this graphic novel, especially the later half I was so surprised to learn that these were the interworkings of a teenager's (13-14) mind. Like my gosh, she writes so eloquently and maturely. And the topic she tackles really reminds me that this is really just a diary with no specific format (i kept reading this book as fiction and forgetting that things are supposed to be choppy because it's literally a diary). Reading this, lowkey brought me to tears (especially learning what happens after because I was pretty unfamiliar with the story of Anne Frank up until this point) and I found myself wanting to annotate it and the things just she says because her mind is just so interesting. I loved the cast of characters (although it did get confusing trying to keep up with who's who) as well as their dynamic with Anne.

After I finished this book it made me want to go read her actual diary and explore the intricacies of what was going on in her head during that time. I hope in her diary there are more details on the events of the Holocaust as well as the effects that time period had on Jewish people (don't get me wrong we do get that part in this book, but it's much more subtle). Overall, I really enjoyed this and I'm so surprised! Can't wait to read her diary one day!

I think the creators of this graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank's Diary did a fantastic job of translating her words and world into the visual. It was different, creative, challenging, and drew me right in to her life.
They capture her voice, her humour, her immaturity alongside her wisdom, her family dynamics. 
If you haven't read the original work, I would suggest starting there? But then again, this is a faithful and respectful adaptation of it and if this format suits better, then it's a good place to start as well.