IN THE MAIL: Annexed, by Sharon Dogar (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children). From the publisher’s book description:
Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex — but what about the boy who was also trapped there with her?
In this powerful and gripping novel, Sharon Dogar explores what this might have been like from Peter’s point of view. What was it like to be forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first to hate her and then to find yourself falling in love with her? Especially with your parents and her parents all watching almost everything you do together. To know you’re being written about in Anne’s diary, day after day? What’s it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspires such hatred and persecution? Or to just sit and wait and watch while others die, and wish you were fighting.
Here is a five-minute video of the author describing her attempt to turn history from black and white photos into the color pictures of a novel that young people can understand.