Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic BiographyPublisher: Hill and Wang
Release Date: September 2010
Price: $16.95 (Tpb); $30.00 (HC)
Creators: Sid Jacobson & Ernie Colón
Format: 152 pgs.; Full-Color
ISBN: 978-0-8090-2685-2 (Tpb); 978-0-8090-2684-5 (HC)
Age Rating: Teen+
ICv2 Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
The Anne Frank House decided to go with American creators for this well-crafted graphic biography because the United States has more of a tradition of long-form graphic nonfiction than Europe, which tends towards shorter "comic albums." Jacobson and Colón, the creative forces behind The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation, are excellent choices for a work which manages to be both sensitive and interesting, while also remaining informative. They have obviously done extensive research on both the Frank family and on the history of World War II. The biography is appropriate for a wide audience from middle school through adulthood, but it is particularly well suited for a high school setting. The experiences of the Frank and Holländer families are shown alongside the events taking place in Europe, specifically Germany, from before the First World War to the end of the Second, allowing readers to place the families clearly within their time period.
The art is clear and realistic, obviously drawn but never cartoonish, referencing photographs whenever possible. Though the placement of art on the page does not always follow a fixed path, this is not unexpected for a work that teenagers—who do not think quite as linearly—will enjoy. Included at the end are suggestions for further reading and a chronology, supplemented by (unfortunately uncaptioned) family photographs. Readers may not flock to this work as fun reading, but with some hand selling they will find that this work expands upon and illuminates Anne and her family’s experiences as first recorded in her famous diary.
--Snow Wildsmith: Writer and former teen librarian and ALA/YALSA committee member.