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A review by jenbsbooks
Anne Frank by Sid Jacobson
informative
sad
3.75
The Hulu/Disney production "A Small Light" increased my interest in AnneFrank. I've heard of her of course, was familiar with her journal and story. After watching the show, I read the official diary, and then looked into the graphic novel adaptation. I also saw this, and added it to my list.
The drawings seemed a bit inconsistent to me, I didn't love the style - sometimes realistic, other times cartoonish and awkward. But the information presented, was actually one of the most informational. Not a direct adaptation of the diary (as is [book:Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation|35794821]) this provided a lot of extra information, background details Anne herself wasn't aware of, and the story of what happened after Anne's diary ended. There were still some direct quotes from the diary, easily attributable, with quotes and "Anne wrote" explanations, so the reader here still gets a taste of the diary directly.
The diary itself, whether the original (and what IS the original ... Anne's original, the one she started to rewrite in hopes of publication/changing names/writing FOR a reader more than a simple standard diary, the one her father compiled, the various translations ...), or the graphic novel, while interesting, also delves into the minutiae of a 14-year old girl and her talk of boys, of her body, of hating her mother ... that give insight into ANNE, but if reading mostly to learn about life during the war, can be distracting. THIS book focuses so much more on the overall situation, not only of Anne and the others in the annex, but of the world, before/during/after Anne's diary snapshots.
I struggle with some of the reading in graphic novels ... I go with a physical book, because it's just hard to navigate digitally (and of course with graphic novels, audio isn't really an option, as the drawings are a huge part of the presentation). Some may be learned (the order in which to read the blocks of text, etc). Unlike digital, I can't enlarge the text, and I'm so used to reading with a backlight, it was always hard to find enough light to make the pages visible without glare. But it was worth the effort, and I appreciate authors/adapters/illustrators coming up with different ways to present stories and information, as everyone has different preferences in how they learn. Having this in a graphic novel format may reach some people that wouldn't get the information otherwise.
The drawings seemed a bit inconsistent to me, I didn't love the style - sometimes realistic, other times cartoonish and awkward. But the information presented, was actually one of the most informational. Not a direct adaptation of the diary (as is [book:Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation|35794821]) this provided a lot of extra information, background details Anne herself wasn't aware of, and the story of what happened after Anne's diary ended. There were still some direct quotes from the diary, easily attributable, with quotes and "Anne wrote" explanations, so the reader here still gets a taste of the diary directly.
The diary itself, whether the original (and what IS the original ... Anne's original, the one she started to rewrite in hopes of publication/changing names/writing FOR a reader more than a simple standard diary, the one her father compiled, the various translations ...), or the graphic novel, while interesting, also delves into the minutiae of a 14-year old girl and her talk of boys, of her body, of hating her mother ... that give insight into ANNE, but if reading mostly to learn about life during the war, can be distracting. THIS book focuses so much more on the overall situation, not only of Anne and the others in the annex, but of the world, before/during/after Anne's diary snapshots.
I struggle with some of the reading in graphic novels ... I go with a physical book, because it's just hard to navigate digitally (and of course with graphic novels, audio isn't really an option, as the drawings are a huge part of the presentation). Some may be learned (the order in which to read the blocks of text, etc). Unlike digital, I can't enlarge the text, and I'm so used to reading with a backlight, it was always hard to find enough light to make the pages visible without glare. But it was worth the effort, and I appreciate authors/adapters/illustrators coming up with different ways to present stories and information, as everyone has different preferences in how they learn. Having this in a graphic novel format may reach some people that wouldn't get the information otherwise.