The Diary of Anne Frank

My father is a WWII buff. All things history are amazing, but he's had a fascination with this particular war as long as I can remember. Growing up in his home, I was exposed to a lot of information in various forms surrounding WWII. It has gotten into my blood and I'm curious to how the whole thing even happened.
I guess I came up with my own ideas about Anne Frank, as well. I knew she was a Jew. I knew she kept a journal. I knew she was in hiding. I had my own concepts of how the journal and the hiding happened and I was WRONG! For some reason I had it in my head that she hid in a closet in someone's home. I thought she wrote on newspaper or something. After reading The Diary of Anne Frank, I realize how much preparation went into securing a safe hiding place not just for Anne, but her whole family, another family, and an additional Jewish man.
More than clarifying the conditions, my eyes were opened to the questions and insecurities of a pre-teen. I remember feeling that way and also not enjoying those years of growing up. It also brought me to confront reality a little more as I have two young girls that will one day be those ages...and that it really isn't that far in the future.
Reading her journal did not awaken new understandings of the war or Jews or anything dealing with WWII. I can recommend other historical fiction novels for that. It did, however, remind me of things I need to be careful about and instruct my children. It has raised a few questions and discussions I have since had with my husband regarding the rearing and raising of two darling little girls. There is so much to contemplate as a parent and I believe reading the frank words of our girl Anne can help parents realize that education and information will always find it's way into the minds of our children...we just need to ensure that the correct information is given at the right time and in the right situations, but that we also can't arrange it by arbitrary means or we might be too late.