This version of Anne Frank's famous diary, the "Definitive Edition," contains material that was omitted from earlier versions, and is 30% larger.

Anne was a fun-loving, intelligent, sensitive young girl on the verge of ... everything. She left behind only this record of her dreams, thoughts, hopes and despair and the belief that "despite it all, people are good at heart."

Anne's diary will break your heart, as you wonder about the life she could have led, the woman she would have become, and about how many other "Anne Franks" perished in the Holocaust. Truly, read it and weep - and never forget.

Today, the Amsterdam house where Anne and her family hid is a museum. My memories of my visit to Anne Frank Huis are still vivid. To learn more about Anne and the house that bears her name, click here.

This book is traveling around the world in a book ring, accompanied by Anne Frank In The World/Die Welt Der Anne Frank: 1929 - 1945. Ring participants include:
1. Tutmarie from Valby, Denmark
2. Arina from Lisboa, Portugal
3. Nikel27 from Ginsheim, Hessen, Germany
4. FutureCat from Christchurch, New Zealand
5. Casseytara from Oklahoma City, OK, USA
6. Welch from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
7. Mamikaem from Maryland Heights, Missouri, USA
8. Ladyofunicorns from Santa Fe, NM, USA
9. Annulla in Brooklyn, NY, USA

Released on Monday, May 12, 2003 at Roosevelt Station Post Office in New York, New York USA.

Released via mail.

Wauw, that was fast! The mailman just delivered two books sent from New York on Monday! I'm impressed. Thanks to Annulla, I'll be re-reading Anne Frank's Diary and reading for the first time Anne Frank in the World. I'm looking forward to it a lot. I'll be back with more later.

I'm now well into the diary and it's as still good as I remember it. Compared to my Danish version, there don't seem to be many differences, although there are some - I can't figure out if it's the same edition or not.

It turned out that the Danish-language version of the diary that I read years ago was actually the same version as this one. There were only two places where I noticed differences. One of them was that there's a map of the house in this version which is not in the other one. It's an interesting and very sad story that also gets a bit boring at some points because of the endless repetitions of what is going on in the house. But I think it has to be that way, because Anne was bored too. One thing is for sure: she could have become a great writer if she'd survived the war (she already was at 13!). I'll recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet. I plan to finish reading the other book of this ring tomorrow and send them both off to Arina in Portugal on Monday.

My thanks to tutmarie for sending me this book. I'll pass it along to the next BC in line, as soon as i'm finished.

Anne and her family, fleeing the horros of Nazi occupation in Holand, hid in the back of an Amsterdam warehouse for 2 years. She was only 13 when the family went into the Secret Annex. In this diary of her's (which would become her best and only freind for some time) she recorded her innermost feelings and har opinions about the everyday struggles that plagued the 8 inhabitants of what would be their new home. Along her diary, we are able to see the evolution of her caracter, the forming of a sensitive and couragous young woman, and a wise observer of the human nature. In her entries, she reveals the relationship between those 8 people living under extraordinary conditions, facing hunger, the threat of discovery and possible death, the boredom, the peety quarrels among them, and all the frustration of living under such strain. But inspite of all the fears and the difficult conditions she was forced to endure, and the despair she sometimes felt for not been able to have the simple life of a normal teenage girl, she kept her faith that one day things would be better once again, and life would eventually return to normal. This diary it's her voice from the past, and by the end of it, you will be wishing to have known this fine young woman...

This one is now going to Germany, to Nikel27.
Enjoy!

this book arrived here in Germany at the 21th of June. Looking forward to read this book. I have read a lot of Anne Frank in School, but always in German...

update 07/14/2003:
I only had read the first edition which ever came out from the diary, and now I was glad that I read this too.
Their where some difference in this diary.

Glad to be a part of this ring.

Off to a long journey to New Zealand.

Release planned for Wednesday, July 16, 2003 at Postal System in Ginsheim, Hessen Germany.

this book goes to the next member ==> FutureCat

Arrived safely in New Zealand today. I have a couple of other bookring books in my TBR pile ahead of this one, but I promise I'll get to it as quickly as I can.

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This is a difficult book to rate, because it's impossible to separate the book from the history, and from the emotions tied up in reading about Anne's hopes and dreams while knowing she'll never live to fulfill them. In itself it is an eloquent expression of the hopes, fears, and frustrations of adolescence, and a story of the terrors and mundanities of life under what most of us would consider unbearable circumstances. Anne was clearly an intelligent girl, with so much ahead of her. And then there's the deep emotion that must accompany any reading of her diary, knowing what fate is in store for her, and that she would never see the end of the war. Towards the end of the diary, the optimism her family are feeling as the Allies get closer was almost unbearable to read. And, most heart-wrenching of all, there's the knowledge that hers is not an isolated story - that there were so many millions of Jews all over Europe who shared her fate. And ultimately, that is where it becomes incomprehensible - how do you understand how something like the Holocaust was allowed to happen? How do you even begin to think about the numbers involved, and that each of those lives lost was not just a statistic, but was another human being, another Anne?

And finally, to descend to the utterly banal, I'd like to mention what a lovely book this is, physically. The paper is wonderfully soft, and most of the pages have a deckle edge - I presume this was designed to imitate an old diary, but it has the side-effect of making it very pleasant to hold and to read.

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A thoughtful and slightly sombre FutureCat

Received both books yesterday. I read this same version not too long ago, so will only be reading the other book and then sending on the next person. But here is the jounral entry I wrote prevously:

What an incredible, moving experience. I read this years and years ago, long before I even became fascinated with the Holocaust and WWII, and I know it did not move me as much then. I probably wasn't much older than Anne at that time. But now...towards the latter half, and especially as Anne began writing more about politics and the war itself, I just had this feeling of dread and foreboding. Anne was so upbeat and optimistic, and hopeful about the future, even when complaining and occasionally being depressed. And while I was reading her words, I knew what was in store for her, and wanted to cry when the book ended.

Received in mail a couple days ago, hope to get started later this week.

Just got this. Wow! I'm amazed at all the places this has traveled to! I started reading some of the diary to my daughters last night and they were fascinated with it!

UPDATE: 1/3/04....My apologies for being so slow. I have been backlogged with bookrings/rays and am now finally getting to this!

1/21/04...I am nearing the end of the book. It is so moving. I love this definitive edition. It answers so many questions I had after reading the original Diary of a Young Girl. Anne is so much like me when I was a teen. It saddens me as I read. She is so full of hope but we, the readers, know the end result.

1/23/04...Oh my I am nearly to the end of this and I don't want it to end! I feel like I know Anne now! It's so sad and I realized this is the 60th anniversary of their final year in the secret annex. I was even reading Anne's journal entry for a day exactly 60 years ago and it gave me chills. Will pass it on as soon as I've finished.

1/26/04...waiting to hear from the next person before I send it on.

I finished this wonderful book but ladyofunicorns is not replying to my PMs and Annulla cannot be reached! So I will sit on this until someone else wants it!

LATER...sure enough! Not ten minutes after I posted this message, ladyofunicorns PMed to say she wants the books! They will go out to her this week!

Mailed to ladyofunicorns on 1/29/04.

Received this in the mail and am adding it to my ring/ray tbr crate and will read it when I can. After I have finished, I will make another entry and pass the book on to the next person! I can't wait to read it!

Sorry to interrupt the sequence of journallers, but I think I might have a book that my fellow participants of this ring would be interested in. It's "Tales From the Secret Annex" - a complete collection of Anne Frank's lesser-known writings (http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1601866). I just received it today as part of a very short bookray. I'd like to keep the book moving after I finish it and thought of this bookring's participants. It's only about 150 pages. I've promised Majosim that he can read it too, but if you just let me know, I'll pass the book on after that.

Ladyofunicorns, if you make a journal entry now, the journal should be back on track.

Hope you don't mind my little intrusion here :-)

I don't mind the interruption at all! That sounds like a good book to read!

Back to this book. This one is next in line to be read so shouldn't be too much longer!

First off, sorry this has taken me so long to read! I don't know what happened. I read it a while ago and I guess I forgot to journal it!

I really like this edition. It is definitely different than the one I read as a kid in school. It is just sad to see young hopes dashed they way that hers were. Also the talent she had! It's hard to remember that she was only in her teens when she wrote this...early teens at that...