The Diary of Anne Frank
Whilst it might raise a few eyebrows as a book read during childhood, there is no doubt that the Diary of Anne Frank holds up today. I was first introduced to her diary in year 3, and I asked for a copy that Christmas. Ever since, her diary has been a source of fascination to me in terms of chronicling the thoughts and life of one girl and her family in a heart-breaking situation.
It goes without saying that her account of discrimination, wartime and family holds up today. For a younger audience, her diary clearly shows how growing up can be difficult and it is human to struggle - her last entry details her internal conflict before ending “if only there were no other people in the world”. Her last entry is perhaps the most poignant part of all, that sometimes stories do not have a happy ending.
Given the past few weeks, her words seem to resonant more than before. With discussions of war and the conflict in Ukraine, most of us have felt helpless. If there is one thing Anne’s diary can tell us, it is this - we must wait and we must hope there is a better world out there.
Emily Kelso
The Tiger Who Came To Tea
One of the first books I fell in love with as a kid was Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea. My mum would read to me every night since I was an infant up until I was around 5 years old. It was one of the very first books that I read for myself and then went on from there to read all sorts. Given it was, really, my first ever book, any time I see it in a bookshop now, or when they play the cartoon on Christmas Day morning, it still gets me just as excited as it used to before. Judith Kerr was definitely a forefront figure for me with loving literature, and her other books, like the Mog series, are also ones I still reread every now and then.
Sarah Tunstall
Goodnight Mister Tom
Goodnight Mister Tom was a book I used to read and reread back to back when I was younger, and I still reach for it when I need a comfort book to escape from university work. It’s a heart-warming story of a boy evacuated from London to the countryside during World War Two. The way the two main characters adjust to their new lives and truly find family in one another is such a lovely thing to read. Their characters leap off the page and the development of their relationship throughout the novel feels so real. The emotional parts also still hit hard no matter how many times I read this book! This is a novel I can see myself continuing to reread for many years to come.
Emma Leask
The Book Thief
Despite being published 15 years ago, The Book Thief is a novel that is still as culturally and historically significant today as it was back then, perhaps even more so.
I read this book when I wasn’t much older than the protagonist is, and absolutely adored it - the wit of the narrator, the three-dimensional characters, the style of writing which pulls you in as if you were there. Most of all, I liked how the novel often makes you question many aspects about life and about yourself.
If you’ve never read or heard of The Book Thief, one important thing to consider about the book is that it’s set in Germany during WW2. Following Liesel, a young girl navigating her life during this time, it forces you to draw a comparison to any modern day situation we’re living through - a war in Eastern Europe, a pandemic, climate change, and so much more. I believe this novel holds up, as reading this book today just as I did 10 years ago evokes the same question I had back then - “how have we not learnt from history, when it repeats itself so often?”
Avika Sharma
