Banned Book-Of-The-Day: The Diary of Anne Frank

Reasons for Censorship: Sexually explicit

“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.”

Book-banners have officially reached a new level of awful. In a few schools across the country, kids and teens are forbidden from reading The Dairy of Anne Frank, one of the most inspirational and absolutely heartbreaking pieces of literature in existence. Anne Frank’s diary demonstrated to the world what happened to Jewish people during WWII and the Holocaust—without it, where would we be? For those who don’t know, The Diary of Anne Frank is a nonfictional account of a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl named Anne Frank’s experiences during the Holocaust. She and her family fled from Amsterdam and went into hiding as WWII continued to rage on. For two years, they, another family, and a dentist hid in the “Secret Annex,” a hidden section of an attic in an old office building. Unable to step foot into the outside world, Anne and her companions faced hunger, extreme boredom, uncomfortable living situations, and the ever-present fear of discovery and death. Throughout those years, Anne wrote detailed descriptions of her life and situations in her diary, which she brought from her home when she and her family escaped. Anne’s diary entries demonstrate the true courage and triumph of the human spirit, even in the most horrendous and terrifying of times. Tragically, Anne did not live to see her diary inspire the globe—she died of typhus in a concentration camp. Her father, Otto Frank, was the only survivor of the Secret Annex. He found his daughter’s diary when he returned to the Annex, after he’d been liberated from the camp he was held captive in. Otto fulfilled Anne’s wish of having her diary published, and because of that, the world is able to learn about and marvel at this incredibly courageous young woman.

Why is this book banned, you ask? Well, certain book-banners do not think that the “sexual content” in this book is appropriate for middle schoolers.

Would you like to know what sexual content the book contains? Anne Frank’s musings about puberty and her changing body. There was a specific censorship battle about this last year, in which a mother of a seventh grader challenged The Diary of Anne Frank because Anne wrote about her anatomy. You can read the entire story of this battle at The Guardian. Anne Frank was in hiding every day for two years, but she still had to face the normal challenges of adolescence. Her book is so brilliant and inspiring because she writes about both the war and herself. The diary does more than depict the struggles that Jewish people went through—it shows people how heroic and incredibly brave a young girl can be, and how a person’s spirit can endure.

The Diary of Anne Frank is last book in the world that should be banned. Support Banned Books Week and allow kids and teens to read the inspirational words of Anne Frank!

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