A Review of Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation

This book was adapted by Ari Folman and illustrated by David Polonsky.

To date, this book was a 2019 SEE-IT Award Finalist, 2019 EGL Award Finalist, Young Adult Nonfiction, and named Best Jewish Children’s Books – 2018.

I have read an abridged version for middle school, but I have never read the graphic version before.

On Amazon, it was ranked 4.7 stars out of 5, and on Goodreads, it was ranked 4.39 stars out of 5.

This summary will include the history behind the original diary, Anne Frank, and her family. The original version of this graphic adaptation was written by Anne Frank in a diary that she received for her thirteenth birthday. The majority of her diary was written in the two years that her family hid from the German Nazis, who occupied the Netherlands. Anne bore her soul to this diary because she felt like she could not be her true self to anyone. For a bit of background, Anne did go back and rewrite her diary because she was inspired by an announcement on the radio. The Minister of Education of Education of the Dutch government in England made an appeal on Radio Orange to hold on to war diaries and documents. Before she completed it, her family and others inside their hiding place were found by the police and were arrested. Anne and her family were sent to concentration camps, and by the end of the war, Anne’s father Otto was the only survivor. When he returned home, he was given her diary. At the urge of his friends, Otto published portions of the original diary, the rewritten portion, and some of her short stories in 1947. Since then, the diary has been translated into 70 different languages and also adapted for the stage and screen.

It has been about two and a half decades since I read this book. And while I am not a huge fan of graphic novels, I did enjoy seeing the visual of Anne’s emotions and perspective. Back when I first read it, I remember having difficulty connecting with Anne, but this time I felt connected to her through these illustrations. There were portions of this diary that I HEAVILY doubt was in the version I read in middle school. You’ll get why in the next paragraph.

This book has been banned from schools because of what the objectors call “sexually explicit” content and because they found that some parts of the book didn’t ‘contribute to the themes of Holocaust education’. The biggest objector of this book is a non-profit called Moms for Liberty, a political organization that rallies against COVID masking policies and schoolbook censorship. I have to roll my eyes over the themes of Holocaust education complaint because this diary is quite literally written by someone that went into hiding for two years for being Jewish and died during the Holocaust. Anne Frank died at the age of 15 by exhaustion of typhus fever, two weeks before her concentration camp was liberated. She was separated from her father after arriving in Auschwitz, she died after having to watch her mother and older sister pass away; she probably felt all alone and lost her will to live.

To be honest, yes there are instances of sexual content in the literary form (not any sexually explicit imagery) but there is zero content that describes any form of sexual acts. One of these instances would be on pages 90 and 91, dated Thursday, January 6, 1944. The inciting incident was Anne reading an article about blushing that she felt was directed at her, it said “during puberty, girls withdraw into themselves and begin to think about the wondrous changes taking place in their bodies.” As we know, puberty is when girls begin to menstruate and have periods, which are often related to sexual fertility. Anne wrote that she began to have thoughts of these ‘wonderous changes’ even before puberty when she asked a friend (that was a girl) if they could show each other’s breasts. Her friend refused, Anne said “If only she had known my terrible desire to kiss her… I must admit, every time I see a female nude, I go into ecstasy. If only I had a girlfriend!”

First, I’d like to point out that Anne asked for consent, and when it was denied, she respected that. That is an important lesson that is not discussed enough. Second, I wish this was included in the version I read because Anne Frank would have been the first real life or fictional bisexual person that I’d read about, and as a bisexual person that would have meant a lot to me. There have to be readers that would connect with Anne because they have encountered the same situation. By the time this book appears on reading lists, middle school students would be put into situations where they see other bodies when they have to change and shower for gym classes. The ecstasy part does make people uncomfortable, but this reminds me of the statue of David scandal.

But let’s define the word ecstasy. Merriam-Webster defines ‘ecstasy’ as “a state of overwhelming emotion,” “a mystic or prophetic trance,” or “a state of being beyond reason and self-control.” So, where’s the sex?  

Another instance of sexual content appears on page 114, dated Friday, March 24, 1944. Anne writes about a conversation she would like to have with Peter about human anatomy between a man and a woman. Anne was intrigued by how a woman’s anatomy is covered up by the hair and inside the body versus a man, which is very much on the outside. Anne goes on about her observation of the changes her body has been making. This entry hardly contains anything sexual, just her observations of her own anatomy, which many young readers may already be going through. It also highlights how little Peter may know about the female body. The closest to sexual content is when Anne writes “The [vagina] hole’s so small I can hardly imagine how a man could get in there, much less how a baby could come out. It’s hard enough trying to get your index finger inside. That’s all there is, and yet it plays such an important role!”

I feel that I should include the definition of sexual content and sexually explicit content. Law Insider defines sexually explicit content as “content having as a dominant theme (i) any lascivious description of or (ii) any lascivious picture, photograph, drawing, motion picture film, digital image or similar visual representation depicting a lewd exhibition of nudity, sexual excitement, or sexual conduct.” You’ll have to just trust me that there is not any imagery that meets that definition. If you don’t, just borrow the book from your nearest library. The Cornell Law School website defines sexually explicit material as “an audio recording, a film or video recording, or a periodical with visual depictions, produced in any medium, the dominant theme of which depicts or describes nudity, including sexual or excretory activities or organs, in a lascivious way.”

Personally, I loved this book because I found my teenage-self reflected in those pages. Too often, required reading in schools is by male authors and about male characters. I believe that reading makes people better people, and I really think that this book would help with that. Having the graphic adaptation allows this beautiful work to connect with people who weren’t that receptive to traditional written media.