My book is out! (Now what?)

Floating a Banned Books book club.

I’m immensely thrilled and honored by the warm welcome The Many Lives of Anne Frank has been receiving—including from so many of you! To everyone who’s come to one of my launch events, bought a copy of my book, requested it at your local library, posted about it online, or done anything else to support my work, please know that I’m deeply grateful.

Top: at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan, with Dani Shapiro, Chen Drachman, and guest star Tovah Feldshuh. Bottom: with Sarah Wildman at Bird in Hand bookstore in Baltimore, at the New York State Writers Institute at SUNY Albany, and at Greenlight Books in Brooklyn.

I also visited the Anne Frank exhibition at the Center for Jewish History (I highly recommend it) with Etan Nechin from Haaretz and spoke about Anne with Stav Ziv from the Forward, Miriam Frankel from the New York Sun, and Haydee Rodriguez from JMore. But my favorite bit of press might have been this one from the Baltimore Sun, which listed my event in their “Things to Do” column next to a Polar Bear Plunge taking place the same day. Hmm … be warm and cozy in a bookstore or wet and freezing in the Chesapeake Bay? Not a tough choice.

In those last two pictures above, I’m starting to look a little rundown. In fact, the launch schedule—11 events over 12 days—was tough. The combination of adrenaline, anxiety, and travel meant that I fell way behind on sleep and wound up getting sick. After the last event, I basically didn’t get out of bed for a day and a half. More than a week later, my voice still isn’t back to normal.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not complaining! In the scheme of things, too many book events is a pretty nice problem to have.

But I was unprepared by how overwhelming having to be constantly “on” would be. I’m a major introvert who normally interacts mainly with my family members and a few close friends. I thrive off the company of others, but it needs to be in limited, controllable doses, and I need downtime afterwards. I underestimated the impact all this social activity would have on my body, in addition to my mind.

Do you also get overwhelmed by too much “on” time? What tricks have you found to help manage it? Let me know in the comments.

What I’m reading

I owe an apology to those of you who were excited about the Israeli/Palestinian authors book club. It turned out to be more than I could take on. And considering the times we’re living in, I’m not sure an online thread is the best place for discussion. I will continue reading these books myself and recommending them to my in-person book club, and I urge you to do the same.

That said, I’d like to gauge your interest in another idea. I’m currently researching a new project involving Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the way it’s used (and often not used) in classrooms. Along the way, I’ve become interested in the situation around banned books in this country more generally. In her excellent newsletter, Publishing Confidential, publicist Kathleen Schmidt recently posted a list from PEN America of the most frequently banned books for 2025. The top twelve—of which I’ve read only a couple—are:

• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

• Looking for Alaska by John Green

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

• Sold by Patricia McCormick

• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

• Crank by Ellen Hopkins

• Identical by Ellen Hopkins

• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

• Tricks by Ellen Hopkins¹

Photo from PEN America.

I’m assuming most of us have read The Kite Runner and The Handmaid’s Tale, but what about the others? Would you be interested in reading any of these as a group and discussing (in Substack Chat or another online format) why they’re banned? Let me know by email or in the comments.

Where I’ll be

Here’s my current event schedule—in person and online—for the next month or so.

• February 20, 7 pm EST: “The Enduring Relevance of Anne Frank” with Doyle Stevick, sponsored by Hadassah magazine. Online only; register here.

• March 1, 1:30 pm EST: East Midwood Jewish Center, 1625 Ocean Ave, Brooklyn. In person; advance registration not required.

• March 4, 9 am EST: London Jewish Book Week, in conversation with David Herman. Online only; register here.

• March 19, 6:30 pm EST: National Arts Club with Meg Wolitzer. Free and open to the public; register here.

New events are being added all the time, so please check my website for the most up-to-date info. If you’re interested in booking me for an event at your local bookstore, synagogue, school, or anywhere else, please email ruthfranklinwriter@gmail.com. A book club guide will be available soon for free download from my website.

One final note on the paywall

As I announced last month, new posts will continue to be free; posts in the archive (older than one month) are now accessible to paying subscribers only. However, I’ve kept a few of the most popular posts open to all.

This post describes the book’s journey from idea to publication, including all the times I had to answer the question, “Why does the world need another book about Anne Frank?”

The Path to a Book

My answer is that the mountain of discourse devoted to Anne has obscured the reality of her life. The misconception about her diary is just the beginning. There’s also the false depiction of her father as her censor, which I discuss here:

Otto Frank: censor or preserver?

Not to mention the use of Anne’s image and words in the service of a vast number of political causes, from apartheid in South Africa to anti-Israel propaganda:

Anne Frank, anti-Zionist?

And finally, my all-time most popular post:

Was Anne Frank bisexual?

Thank you again for your support. It truly means a great deal.

As ever,

Ruth

1. Who is Ellen Hopkins and why does she have 3 books on this list?