Bestselling author Alice Hoffman delivers a stunning novel, aimed at a young adult audience, about one of contemporary history's most acclaimed figures, exploring the little-known details of Anne Frank's life before she went into hiding.

Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne's journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.

With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family's life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.

In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious, creative, and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With wisdom far beyond her years, she will become a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.

Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life. When We Flew Away features archival content provided by the Anne Frank House, as well as information about Otto Frank's desperate bids to get his family to safety in America gathered from correspondence between Otto Frank and Nathan Straus, Jr. from the Straus Historical Society’s Archives. Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.

Alice Hoffman will be in conversation with her editor at Scholastic, Lisa Sandell. Book sales and signing will follow the program. Get a discount on the price of your ticket if you pre-order the book.

Part of the Center’s programming series Anne Frank in History and Memory in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.

Presented with Scholastic

Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor.

About the Speakers:
Alice Hoffman is the highly acclaimed author of over 30 novels for readers of all ages, including The Dovekeepers, The World That We Knew -- winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, The Marriage of Opposites, Practical Magic, Incantation, The Foretelling, and most recently, The Invisible Hour. Her previous novels for Scholastic Press are Aquamarine, which was made into a major motion picture, Indigo, Green Witch, and Green Angel, which Publishers Weekly, in a boxed, starred review, called "achingly lovely." She lives outside of Boston.

Lisa Ann Sandell is an editorial director at Scholastic Inc., where she publishes literary and commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction, including critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman’s New York Times bestseller, When We Flew Away;the New York Times bestselling False Prince series by Jennifer A. Nielsen; and #1 New York Times bestseller Sharon Cameron’s The Light in Hidden Places, which was a Reese’s YA Book Club pick; among many other books. Lisa is also the author of four young adult novels. She lives in New York City with her family.