When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary

Description: In May 1940, Anne Frank is a young girl not quite eleven with all the ordinary problems of a little sister, but Amsterdam is about to be invaded by Nazis and after that everything changes.

Brief description: Alice Hoffman is the highly acclaimed author of over twenty novels for readers of all ages, including The World That We Knew, Illumination Night, Seventh Heaven, Practical Magic, Here on Earth, The Foretelling, Incantation, and, most recently, The Story Sisters and The Red Garden. 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.

Review Quotes:

Praise for When We Flew Away:

"Adding new poignance to a story whose ending we already knew, Alice Hoffman has deftly recreated the child Anne Frank with all her wit, mischief, and uncertainties. This fictionalized account of the increasingly desperate years that preceded the famous diary breaks readers' hearts one more time. But it reminds us of how important it is to remember and honor all that was lost." -- Lois Lowry, Newbery Award-winning author of Number the Stars

* "Hoffman crafts a sympathetic three-dimensional rendering that showcases new facets of a figure whom readers may only know one side of." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Deeply moving and beautifully written." --Kirkus Reviews

"We highly recommend Alice Hoffman's novel of Anne Frank's life... We hope it will persuade young readers that contributing to a better world is both necessary and possible." --Ronald Leopold, Executive Director, Anne Frank House

"The book leaves readers with a poignan and heartrending picture of a young girl who is just beginning to blossom... Hoffman's prose contains the perfect blend of historical reality and gentle fictionalization. Readers will be inspired to learn more about the Holocaust..." --Jewish Book Council

* "Ambitious and beautifully written... A story that needs to be remembered, this works equally well as an introduction to Anne Frank as it does as a fictional supllement to readers already familiar with her diary." --School Library Journal, starred review

Praise for The World That We Knew:

*"A spellbinding portrait of what it means to be human in an inhuman world." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

*"An exceptionally voiced tale of deepest love and loss... one of [Hoffman's] finest. WWII fiction has glutted the market, but Hoffman's unique brand of magical realism and the beautiful, tender yet devastating way she explores her subject make this a standout." -- Booklist, starred review

"One of America's most brilliant novelists since her debut, Property Of, Hoffman uses her signature element of magical realism to tackle an intolerably painful chapter in history. Readers know going in that their hearts will be broken, but they will be unable to let go until the last page." -- Library Journal

*"Alice Hoffman's new novel will break your heart, and then stitch it back together piece by piece. It's about love and loss, about history and the world today, about what happens when man goes against the laws of nature for good and for evil. It's my new favorite Hoffman book -- and if you know how much I adore her writing, that's truly saying something." -- Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author ofSmall Great Things and A Spark of Light.

Praise for Practical Magic:

"Splendid... Practical Magic is one of her best novels, showing on every page her gift for touching ordinary life as if with a wand, to reveal how extraordinary life really is." -- Newsweek

"A beautiful, moving book about the power of love and the desires of the heart." -- Denver Post

"Written with a light hand and perfect rhythm... Practical Magic has the pace of a fairy tale and the impact of accomplished fiction." -- People

"Charmingly told, and a good deal of fun." -- The New York Times Book Review

Praise for The Museum of Extraordinary Things:

"Alice Hoffman understands and delivers the ordinary and the extraordinary in this contemporary novel of the past. As always, her powerful, elegant prose embraces tremendous passion with constant, clear-eyed compassion." -- Amy Bloom, author of Away

*"Hoffman breathes fiery life into an enrapturing fairy tale and historical fiction mash-up... Hoffman unveils both horror and magic in this transfixing tale of liberation and love in a metropolis of lies, yearning, and metamorphosis."-- Donna Seaman, Booklist, starred review

Praise for Aquamarine:

"This spare, haunting novella... is a lovely introduction to the author's storytelling genius and matter-of-fact lyrical style." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Hoffman creates an apt metaphor for that twilight time between childhood and adolescence when magic still seems possible and friendships run deep and true." -- Publishers Weekly

Praise for Incantation:

"Magical and spellbinding... Painful and exquisitely beautiful." -- Lois Lowry, Newbery award-winning author

"Timeless." -- Kirkus Reviews

*"Riveting." -- School Library Journal, starred review

*"Reads like poetry... This novel stands alone." -- Voice Of Youths Advocate, starred review

*"(A) fascinating glimpse of a past civilization." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review