The Diary of Anne Frank has been read, studied, and loved world-wide, by all ages and walks of life, as an award-winning account of the Holocaust. It has been put on lists of the best books of all time…but what most people don’t know is that Anne Frank had a second diary.

In this diary, she wrote “tales” about noteworthy happenings in the annexe: “The Battle of the Potatoes,”  an interview with Peter van Daan, and “Was there a Break-in?”, to name a few. The second half of Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annexe is a collection of short stories that Frank wrote. These include “Eva’s Dream,” “Paula’s Flight,” “Fear,” “The Wise Old Gnome,” and “The Guardian Angel,” and many more. At the end of the book is her moving novel called Cady’s Life, unfortunately unfinished.

Anne Frank had always aspired to be a famous author, and here we see more than just her daily accounts, into an entirely new side of her: someone who creates fiction. “You’ve known for a long time that my greatest wish is to be a journalist, and later on, a famous writer,” says Frank on the back cover.

Keeping in mind that this was written by a 13-year-old, it is outstandingly written. However, the morals of the short stories, while they are extremely important life lessons, are very obviously stated instead of implied. Still, if any reader feels that the stories are too simple, they can easily dive deep into the meanings of what each story reflects about Anne’s life and point of view at the time that she wrote them. In fact, a lot of the stories seem to have been used as a coping mechanism

In conclusion, Anne Frank’s Tales From the Secret Annexe is perfect for someone who has read The Diary of Anne Frank and is craving more, or for anyone looking for Anne’s familiar straightforward writing style combined with important lessons about life, death, isolation, loneliness, God, morality, and more. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.