by little brothers, slathered with stickers and hidden under the bed with all the reeking

shoes and mutant dust bunnies. ...

But Anne truly appreciated me from the minute I came into her life. I was her secret keeper,

and her best friend.

Anne wrote letters to me and named me Kitty, and treated me like an actual person, which

was kind of cool. Except for the pigtails. Anne was a real smart cookie, even if she

was a bit of a chatterbox. All the middle school guys wanted to be Anne's man, but it

was dashing Harry Goldberg who finally swept her off her feet. He was an older man, too...16!

Dating was tricky, as it always is when you belong to a persecuted ethnic group that isn't

allowed to use public transportation and must be indoors by 8pm.

Holland in 1942 wasn't the greatest place to be Jewish, but not everyone was jumping

on the Hitler bandwagon.

When the Germans summoned Anne's sister, Margot, her father's coworkers helped the family

escape to a hiding place: the Secret Annex.

The Annex was made up of a few rooms hidden inside Mr. Frank's old workplace. There was

a slick moving bookcase and everything!

The Franks and their girls gained some roommates when the Van Daan showed up with

their son, Peter.

Each family had a few rooms and access to bathrooms and a sink, but none of them could

leave the building or raise their voices, for fear of discovery.

Of course, with 7 people living in a cramped space, there were more than a few fights.

Next to the angelic Margot and the quiet Peter, lively, sassy Anne seemed like a real problem

child. So, my unlucky owner became everybody's punching bag, which was totally unfair.

Homegirl had an attitude, to be sure, but she was hardly a juvenile delinquent. It's

hard to be good all the time when your daily activities consist of doing homework, listening

to the radio, and peeling potatoes. Oh, and personal space? Forget about it.

When a dentist named Albert Dussel joined them in the Annex, the family put him

in Anne's room, giving Anne her own personal live-in critic.

Yep, it was lonely being Anne, until she started seeing Peter Van Daan. Well, okay, she saw

him every day, but all of a sudden, he seemed different.

They became fast friends, and then something more, and then went back to friends again.

Which was probably a good thing, because a messy breakup would have gotten them captured

for sure.

The Annex crew was completely dependent on their helpers, Mr. Koophuis ,

Mr. Kraler , and Elli , who risked their lives to keep the families safe

and secretly bring them food.

Burglars broke into the building again and again, and it was hard to get a decent night's

sleep with all the planes shooting at each other and dropping bombs.

There was a bright side, though The radio brought news that the tide might be turning

against the Germans, and Anne dared to dream that she might be sitting in a regular classroom

sometime soon!

Anne didn't write anything in me after Tuesday, August 1, 1944. The Franks and Van Daans were

sent to concentration camps, and my best friend died in Belsen, Germany.

I still keep her secrets, and now I share them with the world.