Some of our favorite PBS programs are based on books, are inspired by books, or are adaptations of books. Plus, people who are curious about the world seem to be both fans of public television and fans of reading – no scientific study has proven this, but we think it must be true! And thus “PBS + Books” was born, an occasional feature where we spotlight an upcoming PBS show.
The Diary of Anne Frank
"Girls Coming of Age" Booklist
A Booklist to Accompany The Diary of Anne Frank from Masterpiece Classic airing on PBS
This show premieres April 11, 2010 at 9 pm ET
Watch on WETA and other public television stations nationwide (check local listings)
Or watch online from April 12 - May 11, 2010
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Sometimes when we think about Anne Frank, we focus on the tragedy of the Holocaust in which her young life was cut much too short. However, as anyone who has read “The Diary of Anne Frank” will understand, Anne’s words celebrate her blossoming life, personal concerns, and dreams even as they are shadowed by our knowledge of her fate.
In that vein, we offer this reading list of some other books – fiction and nonfiction – that are concerned with young women coming of age and coping with their particular environments.
-- Bethanne Patrick, managing editor
Watch the show preview
The Book Studio's "Girls Coming of Age" booklist
Inspired by The Diary of Anne Frank? Here are five additional books to explore.
Books
This quite recent Young Adult novel is about Terra, a young woman whose beauty includes a map-shaped port-wine stain on her left cheek that surgery has not been able to erase. Headley uses both metaphors of maps and of Terra’s chosen art medium, collage, to illuminate her challenges as she negotiates life outside of her home of origin – and meets a friend with a cleft-lip scar.
Parents have daughters read this along with The Diary of Anne Frank to compare the writing of girls in different times, places, and circumstances. In her Introduction, Shandler notes “In American culture, there’s always room for improvement.” While her observation is sadly borne out by some of the submissions, many others celebrate strength, beauty, and self acceptance.
Mary Pipher’s pioneering work with adolescent females will arrest the imagination of those who have read The Diary of Anne Frank. Although Anne was clearly in immediate danger as a victim of genocide, today’s girls are in danger from what Pipher calls a “girl-poisoning culture.” Anne’s relative innocence and her search for authenticity are in counterpoint to our contemporary cultural concerns.
14-year-old Melinda Sordino has chosen to remain silent rather than talk about the trauma she’s experienced. In a wonderfully calculated ironic turn by Anderson, it’s Melinda’s voice as first-person narrator that makes this book unique and strong. A great choice for teenaged girls who have read Anne Frank’s diary are thinking about how a soul endures suffering.
Cisneros tells the story of Esperanza, a young Chicana growing up in poverty in Chicago, through a series of deceptively simple vignettes. Like Anne Frank’s diary entries, these vignettes offer a host of troubles, ideas, joys, and topics to think about. More than anything else, Esperanza’s dreams of a better life and of her own future will remind readers of what the young Anne Frank truly wished for and never had.
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