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Jul 18, 2011

Rhonda rated it:

Erin Gruwell was a first-year high school teacher. She was teaching tough kids in Long Beach, CA. Her students are the lowest at the school so she begins with diaries written by others to have them create diaries of their own. She was able to stay with these students for all four years of high school. The she decided to teach college to new teachers.

I teach. I teach well. An yet I find myself discouraged when I read books like this. Not because of the state of education or students in More...

3 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2011

Black Elephants rated it:

The only reason I picked up this book was because it happened to be lying around the house, and I needed something to read. I'd heard of the movie with Hillary Swank and intended (and still do) to stay away from it as I believed it was another "Gangsta's Paradise" cliche: white teacher, colored students, they all dance and learn. When I picked up the book, I thought it would provide a few anecdotes of interest before I returned it to its pile on the floor where it would disappear under More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 10, 2008

Anne rated it:

I work in an inner city school. This doesn't quite touch on the way inner city schools really are. For instance, all the kids' writing is in standard English. My kids, when expressing how they really feel, use what I call Urban English. I just couldn't hear my kids in this book. I related a bit to the teacher's writing. But there are a lot of realities that were not portrayed in this book. For instance, the teacher had her own room --- the same room --- for the 4 years she taught. The re More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Valdir rated it:

Freedom Writers by Erin Gruwell is one of the most interesting books I've ever read.It is about how one teacher(Erin Gruwell) makes it her goal to change the way students in her class view the world.The students in her class view the world as one big war zone and have their own goal which is to be able to survive the streets without being killed.Mrs.Gruwell takes it up on herself to show the kids the theirs more to life then gang violence trying to do so she risks losing her job and husband.She More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 04, 2008

Jean rated it:

I had to read this after having seen an essay in Newsweek. We former teachers always want to to hear those great success stories and this is certainly one of them! My only wish is that the rest of the wonderfully creative and committed teachers out there were recognized like this one...the book itself was good. I found it a bit redundant. Worthwhile but I think you'll skip ahead after awhile. I don't want to take anything away from it...buy it, read it, pass it on, support them, give every ha More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2011

Jessica rated it:

The Freedom Writers Diary is an amazing, moving, and inspirational piece of art. It consists of a collection of diary entries written by the 150 Freedom Writers and their English teacher, Ms. Gurwell. All of these Freedom Writers are students at Wilson High School in Long Beach California, where they have been placed in a below average English class with Ms. Gurwell as their teacher. This is Ms.Gurwell's first teaching experience, and it will have a lasting impact on her. One of the first More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 27, 2011

Athira rated it:

I first heard of this book in Sheila's blog when she reviewed this during the Banned Books week last year. At that point, I wasn't too keen on reading the book, but when I saw the movie pop up in my Netflix recommendations list, I decided to check it out. I didn't have too many expectations from it, but by the end of the movie, I loved it. Who doesn't love a rebel? And I mean a good rebel -- someone who succeeds in something when everyone else expected him/her to fail. The movie was everything a More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 19, 2008

Lani rated it:

I was pretty disappointed by this book from the get-go. Diaries and journals are interesting because you are able to experience someone else's life in real-time. Part of that experience is being immersed in the language, personality, and emotion of the author. The students idolize Anne Frank and Zlata, but don't allow any of their own voices into their writing. Each entry sounds just like the next with only occasional sentences that feel "real" and un-edited.

Good writers ca More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2007

Rachel rated it:

I will begin by stating that I did not read this entire book. I made it through 50 or 60 pages. I had not had any intent to read it, as I have heard more than enough stories about the fish out of water young white teacher who is able to "save" the inner city youth from the apparent inevitability of failure. A coworker strongly recommended the book to me and actually put it in my hand, so I decided to give it a chance.

As I read one journal entry after another, I was puz More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 30, 2007

rachel added it

This is a diary compiled from 150 students in Long Beach, CA. They were almost all at-risk kids in gangs, who lived in the projects, and generally were expected to drop out of high school and not live to see 18 or be in jail. Enter the preppy very white idealistic Erin Gruwell who was a brand new teacher fresh out of college. She gets the idea to teach them about the Holocaust after a racist drawing of one student gets passed around the class. After that it picks up, and soon her students are wr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 01, 2007

Rohann rated it:

I picked up this book from my local store when I saw the movie was releasing back in January 2007. I like to read the book before seeing the movie, so I still haven't watched Hillary Swank on the big screen with this one. It was moving and sad to read the journal entries of these students in LA and the horrors they lived through on a daily basis. We all think high school was an awful experience... try high school in LA when your raped at 15, pregnant and your uncle is a drug dealer! I like life More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 25, 2009

Karen & Gerard rated it:

This book is inspirational to both teachers and students. It is written by high schoolers who were considered "losers" by the school administration of Wilson High, a racially integrated school in Long Beach, California. No one expected them to graduate. They are teens write about their problems and how being in Erin Gruwell's class made a huge difference in their lives. It is a compilation of their journal entries. At the beginning of their freshman year, none of them expected to gradu More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Jovan rated it:

Freedom Writers Diary a novel and movie based on real life events of one-hundred and fifty students and a woman by the name of Erin Gruwell, has opened up the eyes of many people and welcomed them into their lives. The novel includes diary entries from students that attend Wilson High School, in Long Beach, California. As a first year teacher at Wilson High School Ms.Gruwell was experiencing and seeing things she had never seen before. One day as Ms.Gruwell taught in the very diverse school she More...

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Jan 21, 2012

Genesis rated it:

A book recomeneded by my middle school teacher. This book is a real life story. An impactin book that i like so much yet still can't believe that its so old. This book eventually turned into a movie from a long time ago also i 1st saw the movie then found the book to it and i knew i had to read it!!! This book is about teenagers in a bad highschool were theres known to be fights almost every day and kids in which skip school of are just there to go but still have no intrest. This happenes becaus More...

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Jan 19, 2012

CanadianBookGirl rated it:

Unfortunately, I did not love the book. I wanted to, being a teacher who hopes she makes a difference, even in some small way, in the lives of her students. Particularly since it was a true story, it had all the potential of a classic tearjerker where this sap is concerned, and yet, it fell flat.

First of all, they edited it so much that it felt fake. I think I would have much preferred to see the diary entries as photocopies in the students' own handwriting. It would have added a level More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it:

The Freedom Writers Diary is a collaborative effort from high school dubbed "The Freedom Writers" at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. The collection of journal entries are published anonymously. Within these entries are the experiences of Mrs. Gruwell's 150 students, each who began their freshman year believing that they were worthless, and ended their senior year with a diploma and a vision for the future.

Erin Gruwell, a young teacher at Wilson High School, foun More...

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Dec 06, 2011

Claire rated it:

The Freedom Writers Diary with Erin Gruwell is an inspiring book about strength, relationships, and perseverance against stereotypes and intolerance. The book is a collection of narrative diary entries by and young English teacher and underachieving, high risk students from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. It took place from 1994 through 1998 following kids from freshman year, all the way to senior year with the same English teacher, Erin Gruwell. She wanted to transform More...

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Dec 02, 2011

Hannah rated it:

The Freedom Writers Diary is a book about the realistic account about a first year teacher and her experiences. The diary was written by a class of students and their teacher. The teacher, Erin Gruwell, received a job at a less than average high school. The kids that she received were deemed “unteachable” by the other teachers, and her job was to somehow make them learn something. She taught an English class and the students seemed less than interested. She soon found out that these kids had muc More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Tiya added it

(1) This book Is basically about of alot of things that are inspiring and touching. so Ther is this teacher named Mrs. Gruell and she teaches a bunch of High school kids. These are not ordinary kids though. They each have their own story. Their High school Is extremely diverse. Filled with Caucasions, African Americans,Asians,and latinos. They fight all the time about their race. asians hate blacks, blacks hate whites, whites hate hate latinos and, latinos hate EVERYBODY!!. Mrs.gruell tries More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 30, 2011

Gretchen rated it:

The Freedom Writers Diary is a collection of diary entries by a group of students named the Freedom Writers. Their teacher Erin Gruwell instructed them to keep diary entries about their day to day life, and the story chronicles their lives from Freshman year to Senior year. The entries are anonymous, and the students talk about not only personal problems but also how Gruwell’s english class has helped them.

As a future English teacher, I found this book extremely interesting and inspira More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 29, 2011

Crystal rated it:

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it is an important reminder that kids grow and learn when they feel that what they are learning is relevant to them, and that their voices will be affirmed and accepted.
On the other hand, as a long time English teacher, I have doubts about the authenticity of the writing. While I have no doubts that the feelings and the stories are the students' own, I also have no doubt that there were some skillful editors invo More...

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May 23, 2011

Iskreads rated it:

The book is a book that middle school students can connect to. Like for example, one character in the book may have abusive siblings and you have siblings who tease you. My favorite quotation from the book was, "you are the real heros," said by Gerda Seifer. She was the woman who hid Ann Frank. This quote encouraged the troubled teens to change their life style. This book is about how a teacher changes the lives of over a hundred troubled teens through writing. They raised money fo More...

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May 01, 2011

Jessica rated it:

This boo is a story, in diary form, about a remedial English class in impoverished Long Beach, California, and the teacher who inspired the class to turn their lives around. To protect the privacy of the students and to show unity, the diary entries don't have names or personal information associated with them (except where students chose to reveal personal information in the course of their entries).

For the most part, the book succeeds at being overwhelmingly inspiring. Many of the s More...

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Dec 24, 2010

Linoaktown rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Dec 19, 2010

Leane rated it:

Wow! What took me so long? I picked up this book last winter after showing the film "Freedom Writers" with Hilary Swank to my 8th graders. First of all, they absolutely loved it, and despite all the teachers and non-teachers, who have criticized this movie, I highly recommend it to everyone. Anyway, the book is the actual account of Erin Gruwell's Freedom Writers, students from Wilson High School in Long Beach, California who were inspired by their teacher, Anne Frank, and Zlata Fi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 21, 2010

Kelly rated it:

Use this as the format for your book discussions.

What I learned/thought about while reading:
I was interested to learn about the student's/author's lives in urban Los Angeles.

I was surprised at how parallel their lives were to those of Anne Frank (The Diary of Anne Frank), Zlata Filipović, who was a young girl living in Sarajevo while it was under siege in 1992(Zlata's Diary), Durango Street (a fictional account of Rufus Henry, a gang member and his transfo More...

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Nov 17, 2010

Linda rated it:

This book could be a good companion to “And Still We Rise.” This time the classroom of “unteachable, at-risk students” is in Long Beach, California, and the teacher, Erin Gruwell is 23 years old and in her first teaching job. Early in the school year she intercepts a note containing racial slurs from one student to another, and declares to the class that the note was just the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust. “What is the Holocaust?” asked one student, and Gruwell decided then and ther More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Mckenna rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Sep 18, 2010

Casey rated it:

The Freedom Writers Diary tells the true story of a too-young, too-white teacher and her 150 "at-risk" high-school students as they undertake a four year journey of learning, tolerance, and healing, using their pens as their weapon of choice. The book is made up of diary entries from all the different students and their teacher, and chronicles their four years in high school together, spent reading books about tolerance, traveling to New York and DC to spread their story, and influenc More...

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Apr 15, 2010

Katelynn rated it:

The Freedom Writers Diary By: Erin Gruwell was the most amazing book I've ever read in my life....It shows how no matter what color you are you can still make it far in life and that if you put your mind to it you can really do it....In this book Mrs.Gruwell (the language art teacher) helps to inspire a bunch of kids that they can make it through anything that they don't have to be a drug dealer or someone who walks around with guns or someone who robs stores.So in the book there is a really big More...

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