Good Morning! Here is the Monday Morning Blog!
How did last week go? Did you reach out to your teen or young adult? What about offering to go for a walk or drive with them? Give them a safe place and time to talk to you.
This month’s theme is journaling. What is journaling? Journaling is a form of writing that helps us to explore and express what we are thinking or feeling in a written format. Journaling can be a journey of sorts. Many people use a diary to write down their activities, thoughts and feelings on a regular basis. Remember those diaries with the little locks and keys? I had those when I was a kid. They gave you a way to keep your private thoughts safe because you were the only one who had a key to them.
Anita de la Torre, our main character from Before We Were Free (this month’s book review) actually wrote her thoughts down and then erased them for fear that the General’s Secret Police would find her diary and learn about what her family had been doing in hiding. It is a lot like this month’s inspiring person did, but she didn’t erase them, she hoped they would be published someday. Her name was Anne Frank, and her story is one of many references to understand what families like her’s went through. She lived in hiding with her family during World War II because she was Jewish.
Who was Anne Frank?
Annelies Marie Frank was a teenage German-Dutch diarist during World War II. She shared her thoughts in her diary of growing up as a teenage girl with the hopes of becoming a writer someday. Since Anne had a Jewish heritage, her family was sought after by the German Nazis. People of Jewish ancestry were being blamed by the then German leader, Adolf Hitler, for all of the problems Germany was having at that time. So, her diary was also filled with the experience that her family had while in hiding.
The Diary of A Young Girl
Her family was found and captured by the Germans and sent to a concentration camp. Her father Otto was the only one of the family that survived the war and was freed at its conclusion. He was given the diaries which were saved by people who helped the family while they were in hiding. After reading them, he saw his daughter wished to publish a book someday, so he published her diaries.
The Diary of A Young Girl is the book of her published diary. The book was also known as The Diary of Anne Frank, which it was when I read it in high school. If you would like to get a copy of her book or other materials, here is a link to the webshop on her webpage. Webshop Anne Frank House
What we learn about writing from Anne Frank
Writing as a young teen, Anne had a very good approach to writing as is shown in the quote below.
As a writer, the best approach is to write for yourself first. When I journal, I am typically writing to help sort out a problem or to share some feelings that I am not ready to share with someone else. Or I am journaling to help me sort out a scene I am struggling to make work with one of my books. I write my books to get the story out of me and onto paper. Then I share those stories with teens to mentor them through the challenges of growing up.
When you read Anne Frank’s book, it is just like reading her diary. Here is a quote from one of the entries.
This is one of the main goals that journaling tries to accomplish for the writer. Sharing what is bothering you in a place where you can sort it out or ‘shake it off’ as Anne says, helps to find your courage and move forward without that worry or fear continuing to hold you back.
Diaries can tell inspirational stories
Both Before We Were Free and The Diary of A Young Girl are examples of diaries that were shared about people’s experiences while in hiding. The author Julia Alvarez, writes about her experiences through her character, Anita, who writes in a diary while Anne Frank tells her story through her own diary entries. Their stories give us a view into what their families experienced during those challenging situations from the eyes of two teenage girls.
A person writing her hopes and dreams in a diary during a challenging time is very inspirational because they are sharing their true thoughts and feelings. Since Anne’s father decided to publish hers after she died, we were given the opportunity to read her inner most thoughts and learn about her true story, from the entries in her diary.
If you would like to learn more about Anne Frank, here is a link to a website about her and the museum created in the actual place where her and her family was in hiding Anne Frank
Come and Meet Me at the Deep Valley Book Festival
I will be participating in the Deep Valley Book Festival again this year, but it will be in person. It will be taking place on Saturday, October 2nd from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM in Mankato, Minnesota. If you are in the area or are attending the festival, please stop by and see me. I will be selling copies of both The Hard Way and Shawn’s Way and can sign them for you. Here is a link to their website for more information Deep Valley Book Festival. I hope to see you there.
If you are unable to attend, you can still get copies of my books. If you want to purchase your very own copies, there are links on my website which will take you to Amazon. The Way Series. If you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can read it for free. Otherwise, you can purchase a copy of the ebook or paperback. Or you can shop Bookshop.org and have the purchase credited to your favorite independent bookstore.
Have a great week!
