The Freedom Writers Diary : How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them

published	October 12th 1999 by Main Street Books
binding	Paperback
isbn	038549422X (isbn13: 9780385494229)
ebook
pages	304
description	Straight from the front line of urban America, the inspiring story of one fiercely determined teacher and her remarkable students. As...more [close] Straight from the front line of urban America, the inspiring story of one fiercely determined teacher and her remarkable students. As an idealistic twenty-three-year-old English teacher at Wilson High School in Long beach, California, Erin Gruwell confronted a room of “unteachable, at-risk” students. One day she intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature, and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust—only to be met by uncomprehending looks. So she and her students, using the treasured books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo as their guides, undertook a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding. They learned to see the parallels in these books to their own lives, recording their thoughts and feelings in diaries and dubbing themselves the “Freedom Writers” in homage to the civil rights activists “The Freedom Riders.” With funds raised by a “Read-a-thon for Tolerance,” they arranged for Miep Gies, the courageous Dutch woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California, where she declared that Erin Gruwell’s students were “the real heroes.” Their efforts have paid off spectacularly, both in terms of recognition—appearances on “Prime Time Live” and “All Things Considered,” coverage in People magazine, a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley—and educationally. All 150 Freedom Writers have graduated from high school and are now attending college. With powerful entries from the students’ own diaries and a narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an uplifting, unforgettable example of how hard work, courage, and the spirit of determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students. The authors’ proceeds from this book will be donated to The Tolerance Education Foundation, an organization set up to pay for the Freedom Writers’ college tuition. Erin Gruwell is now a visiting professor at California State University, Long Beach, where some of her students are Freedom Writers. [close]
date added	02-01-07 edit book

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nanto marked it as to-read (review of isbn 0767924908)

07/06/08

bookshelves: biografi-dan-memoirs, daftar-buku-buruan, to-read

Dah lama nonton filmnya, awalnya mirip Dangerous Mind, tapi ternyata beda banget. Kemiripannya adalah pada bagian Mrs. Gruwell berupaya memperoleh respek dari muridnya yang kebanyakan berandal atau anggota gangster. Jawaban muridnya untuk penghormatan kepada guru adalah, "Why should I give you my respect? Because you call you a teacher. How do I know that you are not a bad person standing up there?"

Erin Gruwell kemudian setelah berhasil mengambil hati murid-muridnya, mendapatkannya...more

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4 comments

Catherine rated it:

03/31/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in March, 2008

For anyone who works in education or any kind of public service, or anyone who gets frustrated with the "system" (and I'm including all of them--education, social services, juvenile justice, etc.), this is a great feel-good read. Through journal entries from the students and their teacher the reader follows a group of 150 students as they make their way through four years at a tough urban high school in Long Beach, CA. Initially labeled as the "problem" kids in 9th grade, t...more For anyone who works in education or any kind of public service, or anyone who gets frustrated with the "system" (and I'm including all of them--education, social services, juvenile justice, etc.), this is a great feel-good read. Through journal entries from the students and their teacher the reader follows a group of 150 students as they make their way through four years at a tough urban high school in Long Beach, CA. Initially labeled as the "problem" kids in 9th grade, their teacher and supporting community members managed to create a classroom environment that not only made the kids feels safe and brought out the best in all of them, she taught tolerance, acceptance, and compassion. These weren't your typical classroom lessons on the ills of society either. They were lessons brought to life by visits from Holocaust survivors, children who lived through the war in Bosnia, and Miep Gies (she hid Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis). Trips to Washington to visit the Holocaust memorial and meet the Secretary of Education and advocate for less violence in schools and on the streets. And eventually, this book, which earned them spots on Prime Time with Connie Chung and eventually led to scholarships for college. It is, in a word, uplifting.

I had two issues with the book: 1.) The journal entries, while their substance was moving, were a bit trite. I get that the entries were supposed to be anonymous, but it might as well have been the same kid writing every one--there weren't really any distinctive voices, although I do understand that given the educational system they grew up in, this could also be considered a masterpiece. 2.) The kids' teacher, Erin Gruwell, speaks about the resistance she received from colleagues and administrators in her school. As someone who spent 4 years working in an inner-city school, I was not surprised to read about teachers who told her they were making the rest of them look bad, or that every year they threatened to break up the class so she couldn't continue her work with them. It's sad, but I have no doubt that happened. What isn't mentioned, and perhaps I'm giving too much credit to her school here, are the people within the school who DID support her. Again, as someone who worked in a similar environment and faced many of the same types of personalities she did, there were also people within my school who cheered me on, who tried not to let others take credit for my work, who did what they could to make sure others didn't tear me down. The way it was presented in this book, Erin Gruwell made it seem that she was the only beacon of light in that entire school, and I found that left a bad taste in my mouth. As amazing as she seems to be, if there were people in the school who supported her, I hope that at some point she thanked them. And if there truly wasn't anyone, then shame on Wilson High School in Long Beach---and I can totally understand why she wouldn't want to waste a drop of ink writing anything positive about them! ...less