Dear Cara : Letters From Otto Frank; Anne's Father Shares His Wisdom [Paperback]

Cara Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2000

The Diary of Anne Frank, one of our most enduring inspirational books, was written by a young girl who suffered the hell of Auschwitz yet wrote "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart...". Otto Frank, her father and the only family survivor, motivated people all over the world to carry on Anne's message of love and hope in their own lives. Cara Weiss Wilson wrote this book from her deeply meaningful correspondence with Otto and the inspiration it gave her. He became her mentor, her wise 'grandfather', as he was for so many others. Cara's twenty-year correspondence with Otto culminated in a memorable meeting shortly before his death. Her remarkable book will help others renew their faith in the nature of forgiveness and the spirit of optimism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a touching autobiographical story...." -- Judith E. McQuinn, VP-E-Contents/Publishing

"Dear Cara; Letters from Otto Frank has been selected to be a part of the California Collection for High School." -- California Readers, California Collection for High School

"You will love Dear Cara: Letters from Otto Frank! It's a story of anguish, love nurturing, loss and wisdom..." -- B. Probstein, author, Healing Now and Return to Center

...a touching autobiographical story; she demonstrates that history does indeed repeat itself in the life of any young person... -- Judth E. McQuinn, VP-E-Contents/Publishing

It's a story of anguish, love, nurturing, loss and wisdom--all in one immensely readable book. -- Bobbie Probstein, author, "Healing Now" and "Return to Center"

From the Author

"It wasn't that he was a saint. He wasn't. He was real. He was a friend. He validated my thoughts, my feelings. Ultimately, even my words. He was Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank. Mentor to a global family of children who sought out his guidance and love. How he was able to give each of us so much attention and hope when most of us had neither at key times in our lives, I'll never know. Still he did. I was but one of Otto's Children, yet he always made me feel important. How grateful I will always be for the gift of such friendship!"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: North Star Publications (MA) (October 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880823233
• ISBN-13: 978-1880823231
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,606,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dear Cara Offers Inspiration and Shares a Story of Love, October 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dear Cara : Letters From Otto Frank; Anne's Father Shares His Wisdom (Paperback)

Dear Cara is a book about a man and a woman, across the world from one another, both in miles and the lives they lead. Otto Frank, who survived the death camps of the Holocaust but lost his daughter there, shares his hope and inspiration with a young American woman whose life is unfolding. His shares his unfailing human spirit and his love with Cara, a young woman who first wrote to him at the age of 13. Throughout her life, from her teen-age years, to college to marriage to motherhood, Otto Frank is there with her, offering his support and his inspiration. He listens to Cara's dreams, her troubles, her worries and through their correspondence, she feels the joy that a young person feels when someone is listening. A young woman's voice is heard. When, as an older woman, Cara's world is turned upside down, the wisdom and hope that Otto Frank gave her for twenty years, sustains her through her pain and provides her the support she needs to endure and accept, and ultimately, to grow from her own experiences. This book is must-read for young people and for adults who believe, or want to remember, through pain and turmoil, how important and precious hope, and love, is.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Girl to Woman (With a Very Special Mentor), March 31, 2001

By 

C.J. Anders (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Cara : Letters From Otto Frank; Anne's Father Shares His Wisdom (Paperback)

"I received your kind letter and thank you for it. It was very nice of you to send me your photo, so that I have a better impression of you as a person..."

So begins Otto Frank's first letter to a young American girl in 1957, a suburban California girl named Cara as much in the mainstream of American society as the pop songs she listens to on the radio. That girl had read Anne's diary, had been deeply moved by it, and had written to Anne's father.

He wrote back.

Cara wrote to him again. Otto wrote back. She wrote again. He wrote again. And so on and so forth...for decades. They grew close. Cara faced all the same questions we face, about school, love, marriage, child-rearing, politics, family. But she had a very, very special mentor.

This book is her story of that relationship. Yes, it's a remarkable pairing. But it's also a remarkable tour through the last half of the 20th century, through the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam, the Watergate days, too many wars in the Middle East; all reflected in a single woman's coming of age. The letters back and forth are always revealing and quite often gripping. They are about private troubles and public issues. And when Cara, as a woman, goes to visit an ailing Otto, by now an old man, it would take a reader with a hard heart indeed not to feel a lump in the throat, at least. Then, when Otto her a collection of something that takes us, the reader, completely over the edge, in the best possible way.

We recommend this book to anyone, of any age. It is just special.