Summarizer (Ana) - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

For this first literature circles meeting my group, Nina, Claire, Arabella, and I have read the first 90 pages of The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank.

June 12^th 1942, the day of Anne Frank’s thirteenth birthday, she had a journal waiting for her along with other gifts. Although, she found this one particularly special because it would give her someone to confide in, be to her the friend she never had. At first her journal would have looked like the one of an ordinary girl, even though after just a month everything in her life had changed. Jews were forced to a life in fear of that that wasn’t permitted by Hitler and his anti-Jewish laws. Jew bore badges in the shapes of yellow stars on the fronts of their coats, were obligated to be inside by eight o’clock, were not permitted: to go to places of entertainment, use trams, visit Christians, go to shops during hours other than those between three and five o’clock (and still could not go to any shop that did not have the place card reading “Jewish shop.”), or participate in public sports. Furthermore, as a result of Hitler’s anti-Jewish laws Anne’s family was forced into hiding in a secret annexe, along with the Van Daan family.  The two families were safe by comparison. Their miseries lied in boredom, hunger, and the stories they would hear of the outside. As a distraction Anne engages herself in the teachings of French and math. Soon enough the Franks and Van Daan’s are dismayed when a carpenter comes to fill the fire extinguishers and as a result knocks on the door and shoves it. A doctor by the name of Albert Dussel, who Anne finds “a stodgy old-fashioned disciplinarian” joins the Frank’s and Van Daan’s in the secret annexe. As their lives in the annexe continues, so does the bombing, but Anne cannot bear the loud noises that come with them.

Anne Frank: The Diary of A Young Girl (Summarizer _Nina)

Hi everyone. This is my first blog post since we started The Literature Circles. My group consists of Ana Marija, Claire, Arabela and myself.  We are reading two books; “Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl” and Milkweed. Furthermore, the first novel we have chosen to start reading is in fact Anne Frank. Discovered in the attic where Anne spent the last years of her life, her remarkable diary has since become a world classic reminding us of the horrors of the war.  I will be summarizing the main events that have occurred during the 90 pages read.

In 1942, a thirteen-year-old Anne receives a diary as her birthday present. There she hopes to be able to reveal everything to it, since she feels that she has never truly been able to confide in anyone.  In order to enhance the friend for whom she has waited so long, and to prevent herself from writing bold facts she names the diary Kitty. Furthermore, she describes several of her friends and her everyday life until everything changes when the Nazis start occupying Holland. Afterwards, the Jews are as Anne describes it “strictly limited”. They are ordered to wear a yellow star to distinguish them from others; they needed to hand in their bicycle, couldn’t ride trams and learn to drive and amongst other things must strictly go to Jewish schools.  Quickly enough, the Frank family flee their home in Amsterdam to go into hiding known as the “Secret Annex” as they fear for their lives.  Nonetheless, the Franks share their hiding with one more family known as the Van Daan’s. During the period spent in hiding, the two families also experience hunger, boredom, and miseries that they would hear from the outside. In order to keep herself from thinking about this, Anne tries to engage herself in learning French and math.  Furthermore, after a close revelation of their hideout, The Franks and Van Dann’s are joined by Albert Dussel,  a doctor who Anne finds  “a stodgy old-fashioned disciplinarian.” Lastly, during this time there are bombs flying around everywhere and Anne simply cannot get used to this.

(Summerizer)The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

   In the literature circle, Ana, Nina, Arabela, and I are reading The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. We have read til page 90, and we are going to read the next 90 pages until April 23rd.
   On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank's parents gives her a diary. She is excited to have a friend to confide all of her secret thoughts, since she felt isolated and misunderstood sometimes. She writes about her crush, her schoolwork, and her friends, just as an ordinary girl does. But within a month, everything changes. Hitler starts to conquer Holland brought anti-Jewish measures there. Jews are forced to wear yellow stars for identification, and are forced to only go to Jewish services, as Anne states, "Our freedom was strictly limited".
Anne's family decides to hide somewhere safer, and enters the "Secret Annexe" with Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan as companions. They feal very safe compared to others, and hears some miseries such as Jewish friends being hauled away by the dozens. Anne tries to distract herself from all the sorrows by studying French and math, but that method barely workd.
One day, a carpenter comes to fill the fire extinguishers, and hammers on the Secret Annexe. The members go white when the carpenter knocks the door and start pushing it, but then hear Mr. Koophius' voice, who is one of their protectors.
Albert Dussel, a doctor, joins the Secret Annexe members and starts living together. Everyone thought he was a nice person, but Anne finds him "a stodgy old-fashioned disciplinarian".
The bombing goes on, and it seems to Anne that she will never get used to the loud noises.

Milkweed1

Summarizer
Milkweed
Jerry Spinelli
So the book starts of with the main character running. Running from police while stealing bread from the bakery. During the escape a red-headed, Jewish boy, called Uri pulled him to the side making the police lose the protagonist from their sight. The two boys greeted each other and shared his bread. After, Uri decided to introduce the other boy to his friends. That's how their friendship began. Uri came up with a fake story about the main characters past, because he did not remember his real one. According to the story, the protagonist is a gypsy named Misha Pilsudski (what by the was probably unbelievable, because the surname 'Pilsudski' came from one of the most known polish statesman and it was really rare), born in Russia and sharing 7 brothers and 5 sisters. Apparently he got lost and got to Warsaw, Poland where he is in this moment. The tie this novel is happening is around 1939 - 1940 (WWII).
In spring (I think) he met a Jewish girl named Janina and he quickly became friends with her. He spends a lot of time with her, as well as with his friends he met before in the stable.
I really enjoy the book. I think it will teach me much more about history.

Milkweed

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

This literature circles rotation we are all going to be summarizers. The book we are reading is Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli and last class we decided we are going to read until chapter 15.
The book begins with the main character, Stopthief, running. He meets Uri, a redhead Jew, and a couple of Uri's friends. This book is set in the period of World War 2 in Warsaw, Poland.
Uri offers Stopthief to stay with them and tells Stopthief stories about where he is from. He gives Stopthief a new name, Misha Pulsudski, and tells him that he has five sisters, seven brothers and parents, but they just separated during the war. Misha likes the idea of having a family unlike Uri and his friends. He convinces himself that he is not a Jew, but a Gypsy because he has seen the dangers of being a Jew in Warsaw. At first, Misha admired the Jackboots and wanted to be one of them, but as the story progresses he sees what they do to Jews and Gypsies. Misha goes on taking bread and other food from stores and bakeries, and after that running to get away from the owners.
He meets a girl named Janina by going into her family's garden and eating their tomatoes. Days pass as Misha left loafs of bread at the back doorstep of Janina's house and she leaves a small item for him to pick up. Misha, being as naive as he was, sneaks outside after the curfew and gets his ear shot off by the Jackboots. Uri, Misha and the rest of the boys get kicked out of their home and are forced to find a new place to stay in. Uri takes Misha to go see a marry-go-round and Misha is amazed by the music it makes and falls in love with one of the horses. At the end of chapter 14, some "dirty Jew" rips of a leg from Misha's favorite horse. Jackboots take action and hang the first Jew they find. They torture the Jew and Misha is surprised by this. Uri and Misha go  back to the place they are staying in for now and spend their days giving black pearls (coal) to the orphanage nearby.
I really like the plot of the book because the period of World War 2 really interests me. 

Gwendy - Milkweed Summarizer

We have read 70 pages of the first of our literary circle books. It is called Milkweed and is written by Jerry Spinelli who actually wrote another book that I have read called Maniac Magee, which was frankly terrible. However, unlike Maniac Magee, I'm so far enjoying Milkweed very much.

Milkweed is a novel set in World War II, Warsaw. It begins with a young boy, probably around 10. He has no idea of his identity, parents or place of birth whatsoever. He finds himself in Warsaw, Poland and steals some bread due to his hunger after running for days on end. Uri, a Jew finds him stealing and shares the bread with him. Uri then takes the boy (at this point in the book, known as Stopthief) and takes him back to his place of living, the basement of a barber shop. There, he becomes companions of many other Jews under hiding and practically lives in luxury compared to his previous experiences. There, Uri creates the boy's identity saying that his name is Misha Pillsugski and he is a gypsy, not a jew. He has 7 brothers and 5 sisters. His mother was a fortuneteller and he was cursed to be short by an unhappy customer of his mother's.

Unfortunately, the Nazi's or as naive Misha calls them, Jackboots, kick Misha, Uri and friends out of their hairdresser basement and Uri and Misha find themselves on the street. They survive by stealing stuff, which is easy for Misha to do, due to his tiny size.

One day, Misha stumbles across a tomato tree with very tempting tomatoes on it, a rare sight at that time of the year. However, he is caught while eating by a young girl called Janina. She tells him that she is Jewish, but that he must keep that a secret. Slowly, the begin to form a friendship. Because they are unable to meet every day, they begin a cycle of leaving gifts for one another. One night Misha leaves a loaf of bread at Janina's door and in return she gives him a gift of some sort: buttons, ribbons or small plastic dogs.

So far, I'm really enjoying Milkweed due to the fact that historical fiction is definitely one of my favourite genres.

Milkweed; Jerry Spinelli

Summarizer

Ashley Kim

15 chapters/ 45 chapters

     Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli starts off in a fast paced run of a little boy in Warsaw around 1939. Then he meets Uri, a redheaded Jew, and so his new life begins as a Gypsy. He was first Stoptheif, then was told that he was Misha Pilsudski. What will he be next? Misha then leads a naive life of stealing, running, and wishing to be a Jackboot(Nazi) during WW ll. Another major point in the book was when Misha met Janina, a Jew who's not supposed to say she's a Jew. Her large innocent seven year old eyes first met him while he was eating tomatoes from her garden. From then on he stole bread for Janina. His ear was even shot off when he broke the curfew to give her bread. One day, he knocked at her house and she was gone. That's where it mainly ended. I enjoy the way that the book is being narrated in the point of a little boy. It makes things be seen in a different way that people don't realize.

A few comments my group had on this book and summary:

Gwendy: He's really naive. ...I think he's like ten.

Ashley: He's too naive to be ten.

Ewa: His last name is really rare.

Jana: ...I like Uri.