Scholastic to Publish When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary in September 2024

Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, announced the publication of When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary—a novel exploring the little-known story of Anne Frank’s life before she went into hiding—from bestselling, award-winning author Alice Hoffman and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House. Releasing on September 17, 2024 in the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand, World English rights were acquired for Scholastic Press by Miriam Farbey and Lisa Sandell in a deal with Amanda Urban of CAA.

In soaring prose, bestselling author Alice Hoffman brings Anne Frank to life on the page, drawing from her extensive research in Europe and the United States, to depict her experiences from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until her family is forced into hiding in the annex of her father’s office building at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. As state-sponsored discrimination turns ordinary people into monsters, the Jews in the Netherlands are caught in an inescapable swell of violence and hate, and Anne is shaped as both a young woman and as a writer who will change the world. WHEN WE FLEW AWAY features archival content provided by the Anne Frank House, as well as information about Otto Frank’s desperate bids to get his family to safety in America gathered from correspondence between Otto Frank and Nathan Straus, Jr. from the Straus Historical Society’s Archives. 

Says Hoffman, “In the year when I was twelve, I discovered many of the books that have meant the most to me, books that changed my life. The book that affected me more than any other was The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. It changed the way I looked at the world. It changed the person I was and the person I would become. I wondered what Anne’s life had been like before the diary, and what had caused her to become the writer whose voice spoke for a generation of those whose lives were ruined or ended by the Nazi occupation, a voice that will never allow us to forget what had happened.”

“In this time of rising anti-Semitism, there was no author more suited to showing the real-life, heart-breaking consequences and devastation wrought by this prejudice than Alice Hoffman. In stunning, affecting language, Alice illuminates that period in Anne Frank’s life when her rights and freedoms diminished, as her voice grew louder and her choice became to write. While this novel is intended for readers ages 8-12, we know teens and adults—all of whom know the name Anne Frank—will want to more fully understand who she was and why her story is especially important today,” added Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade Publishing.

Additionally, noted Farbey and Sandell, “We felt it was imperative to partner with the Anne Frank House, as they are the foremost researchers of the history of the Frank Family and would help us to ensure that the book, while a work of fiction, is very much grounded in fact.”

“We can highly recommend Alice Hoffman’s novel of Anne Frank’s life, set in the dramatic and terrible circumstances of those first war years. We hope it will persuade young readers that contributing to a better world is both necessary and possible,” says Ronald Leopold, Executive Director, Anne Frank House.

About WHEN WE FLEW AWAY: A NOVEL OF ANNE FRANK, BEFORE THE DIARY 

Upon the German army’s successful invasion of the Netherlands, the Nazis’ grip on the Jews in Amsterdam tightens. Anne Frank and her family find their lives turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction, as a tide of prejudice, terror, and violence washes over their city. Otto Frank, Anne’s beloved father, writes desperately to a friend in the U.S., hoping to secure his family safe passage to the shores of America. However, immigration to the U.S. is all but impossible, and even as Otto assures Anne that their escape is imminent, he begins preparations to hide his family.

And, all the while, eleven-year-old Anne, creative and fearless and bold, tries to find herself as the world crumbles around her. In the midst of impossible danger, Anne discovers who she truly is . . . and it shapes her as a young woman and as a writer. A writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.

About Scholastic:

For more than 100 years, Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) has been encouraging the personal and intellectual growth of all children, beginning with literacy. Having earned a reputation as a trusted partner to educators and families, Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, a leading provider of literacy curriculum, professional services, and classroom magazines, and a producer of educational and entertaining children’s media. The Company creates and distributes bestselling books and e-books, print and technology-based learning programs for pre-K to grade 12, and other products and services that support children’s learning and literacy, both in school and at home. With international operations and exports in more than 135 countries, Scholastic makes quality, affordable books available to all children around the world through school-based book clubs and book fairs, classroom libraries, school and public libraries, retail, and online. Learn more at www.scholastic.com.

About Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman is the acclaimed author of over thirty novels for readers of all ages including The Dovekeepers, The World That We Knew—winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize—The Marriage of Opposites, Practical Magic, Incantation, The Foretelling, and most recently, The Invisible Hour. 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. Visit her online at www.alicehoffman.com.

About The Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House was established on 3 May 1957 in cooperation with Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father. They are an independent non-profit organization that runs a museum in the building where Anne Frank went into hiding and they try to bring the life story of Anne Frank to the attention of as many people as possible worldwide, with the aim of raising awareness of the dangers of anti-Semitism, racism, and discrimination and the importance of freedom, equal rights, and democracy. The Anne Frank House researches the history of the Frank family and the other people in hiding, as well as anti-Semitism, racism, and right-wing extremism in the Netherlands.

WHEN WE FLEW AWAY: A NOVEL OF ANNE FRANK BEFORE THE DIARY by Alice Hoffman

Scholastic Press| Ages 8–12 | On sale September 17, 2024

Hardcover | ISBN 9781338856941 | $19.99

eBook | ISBN 9781338856958 | $19.99

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