Annexed Blog #1

     My first book club book is an emotional novel by Sharon Dogar named Annexed. The protagonist of the story is Peter Van Pels, a sixteen year old Jewish boy, who is forced to live in a confined annex with Anne Frank and her family. The story begins with a saddening scene. It starts with Peter running from a siren coming from one of the Nazi vans. He is running to his girlfriend's house and gets over her fence just in time for the siren not to reach him. Before Peter is able to get into her house, the Nazis from that van abduct her whole family, leaving Peter angry and questioning life. The beginning of the story illustrates the two families moving into the annex. The author introduces the relationships between Peter and his housemates, including his hatred for Anne Frank. The story has an interesting conflict, thoughtful characters, and a saddening setting.
     The story has two conflicts, person-against-society and person-against-person. Peter's main problem is the Holocaust. All of the conflicts in the story relate back to this specific conflict. The reason he has to live in the annex is because of the Holocaust, the reason his girlfriend was taken away by Nazis is because of the Holocaust, etc. The other conflict is Anne Frank. He hates her due to her presumptuous and ostentatious personality. It agitates Peter to the fullest extent. In the story, the protagonist is faced with many problems.
     The main character as said before is Peter. He is an average teenage boy who feels and acts the same way a normal teenager would. He feels lust for Liese, his girlfriend that has just been captured with her family by Nazi soldiers. He feels angst against his parents: his father a strict, yet friendly man, and his mother very loving, but sometimes ignorant. Living in the annex along with his family are the Franks. There is Anne, who, as said before enjoys being the center of attention and is Peter's antagonist. There is Mr. Frank, a wise sounding man who doesn’t get tempered often. Also his wife, Mrs. Frank, who is much stricter and very short-tempered. Anne's sister, Margot, is a flat character; she seems to be a quiet girl. So far the characters of the story remain a little flat. I predict a lot of character change in the future since there are eight people living in one very small annex together.
     The story takes place in Amsterdam toward the end of the summer in 1942. The story takes place during World War II at the start of the Holocaust. The families live in an annex with about four rooms, each very small. There is a kitchen, a bedroom or two, a bathroom, an attic type, and some hallways. Peter's "room," consists of a bed and a dresser which lie under the staircase that leads to the attic. There is no privacy, no quiet, and no comfort. Most rooms are multi-purpose rooms, so they can make use of every inch they have.
     The story takes on a thoughtful approach to the mind of a teenage boy living through the Holocaust. So far I enjoy it thoroughly and I look forward to continuing and reaching the climax.