Submitted by: Anna Beth Payne
Generally, what inspires you to read?
Reading expands my opportunities to communicate as well as to commune with people I would never otherwise have contact with.
When did you first read Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl?
I was 10 or 11 years old.
How did you come to read this book?
Browsing the shelves of our teeny school library. At the time I was in a school with 80 students, grades K-8.
Why has this book inspired you the most?
Anne Frank personalized what it means to confront evil and still live a more or less ordinary life. It raises not only obvious questions about how to stay hopeful, but also questions about having the courage to confront injustices.
In reading this book, how has your life been influenced or changed?
I try to do the right thing, remembering that most of the time what I fear isn't as extreme as I think! And ultimately, this book started me on a very intimate spiritual quest that has taken me to surprising places.
