Love, Otto

In 1959, a thirteen-year-old girl in California was so impassioned by Anne Frank's diary that she decided to write to her heroine's father Otto, the only surviving member of the Frank family. Mr. Frank's reply to young Cara Weiss was friendly, yet he cautioned, "I receive many letters from young people all over the world, but you will understand that it is not possible for me to carry on correspondence, though, as you see, I am answering everyone.". From this tentative start, a heartfelt twenty-two-year correspondence was born. in Cara Weiss Wilson's book we share in the remarkable friendship that grew between a young girl from North Hollywood and a Holocaust survivor living in Switzerland. Otto's letters are filled with sage advice about the crucial issues in Cara's path to maturity: sibling rivalry, conflicts with parents, first love, entering college, choosing a career, marriage, children. At the same time, Otto reveals how he worked to keep the spirit of his daughter alive through the Anne Frank Foundation. The book's conclusion comes twenty years after the correspondence began, as Cara journeys to Amsterdam for an emotional private tour of the Anne Frank house, and then to Switzerland to meet Otto Frank in person for the first time. At the Frank home, Cara learns the stories of the numerous children the world over whom Otto helped usher into adulthood with his warm and wise letters.