The Freedom Writers Diary (20th Anniversary Edition): How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them

I remember watching the movie when it came out and told myself I'll eventually read the book. I totally forgot about it, until I saw the anniversary being shared on Facebook. I purchased the book right away and I loved it. It really went line by line of how the movie was played out. I think the experience and lessons given by reading this book is so truth to reality of minorities even to this day. It really took me back to my childhood and made me relive some of my experiences. The read made me feel motivated to continue doing better and keep striving for what is right and for what I want to accomplish. If you want a good read, something that will take you back in time, I highly suggest picking up this book.

The book starts in Long Beach 1994 in a school named Wilson High School . It's freshman year and most of the students have already given up on themselves along with most other teachers in the school. They were seen as the misfits, not supposed to graduate from highschool. All they cared about was their gang, they saw themselves as a gang member before they saw themself as a human being. This book follows their favious experiences dealing with adversaries, hardships, and dealing with racism. Things weren’t supposed to change, the students were on this path and there was no sign they wanted to change until a hopeful white woman came to the school to teach them english. Erin Gruwell saw that these kids were capable of great things, they just needed someone to believe in them. She designed her lessons to teach them about history they could relate to and gave them assignments in order to give them confidence. Throughout the book we can see how she changed these students' lives and teach them how to believe in themselves and their abilities. She made them write in a journal to capture their lives and this book is a collection of some of those entries. I also love the writing style in this book, rather than being told by a single person the story is told by the diary entries of the students. We are able to see how the attitude and confidence of each student changes as we get further into the book. We get their in the moment, thoughts making the whole thing a little bit more personal. The diary entries allowed for us to have a deeper connection with the students and for us to really understand what struggles each of them had to go through. This book does a great job of showing the influence teachers can have on kids, teaching has become very political and everything is based off of the curriculum. Lots of factors are going against teachers not allowing them to form the kind of teacher student relationship that we see in this book, this book just shows to me that teachers need more wiggle room to be able to show that they are people and not just their grades. Some students give up because they believe they aren't good enough because people say they are or their grades make them feel like they are incapable and then they stop trying. But in the end the only person that can tell you you can or can’t is yourself. This is a constant theme in this book, Mrs. Gruwell met these kids when they had no hope or belief in themselves and in the end of her showing them they can they end up surpassing everyone else’s expectations.

This book follows the movie exactly how it is but gives more depth to the students letters as well as the teacher absolutely loved!!!

My daughter is adopted. She is also African American and her father and I are White. She is well aware of the racism in this world. Also being learning disabled reading does not come easy for her. I got her this book in hopes to peak her interest in reading. I got so very much more!! She was able to relate to the struggles the students at Wilson High School were going through. Although she is not a student that would be deemed "Unteachable at-risk" as the students in this book were she was able to put her self in thier shoes and walk along side them relating to many of their day to day issues. My daughter has always loved to journal but now does it with a whole new purpose. I really had no idea this book would make such a profound difference in her life! This book is well written and easy to understand but not oversimplified causing you to lose interest. Written in such a manner you get to know the students as if you were in class with them each day. Making it easy to feel their struggles, pain and their joys. I purchased a copy for myself and read along with my daughter. This book helped me see more clearly the struggles my daughter was and is going through living is a world marked with intolerance. I wish every school in America had thier own Mrs. Gruwell!!!!

Once I saw the movie I loved the story so much that I had to read the book and... it's beyond words. I Loved it! A dive into humanity, hope, trust, love beyond any labels. One of those book that you have to read at least once in a lifetime

Very flimsy book but story is good

Pretty good book bought it after seeing the film at school

A different presentation of the book. Dairy notes ate of different students. But their arrangement is such that a whole narration is intertwined to present it as a complete story. Very interesting reading, though sometimes it becomes very lengthy.

Very happy with the whole purchase experience, great book