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The Freedom Writers Diary : How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them | 
 enlarge | Authors: Freedom Writers, Zlata Filipovic
Publisher: Main Street Books
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $11.16
You Save: $2.79 (20%)
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Rating:  144 reviews
Sales Rank: 2838
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 038549422X
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.235
EAN: 9780385494229
ASIN: 038549422X
Publication Date: October 12, 1999
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 139 more reviews...
 Freedom Writers January 6, 2009
What a great story!!! I am just finishing up this book right now and I am glad that it was at a good price from Amazon and in excellent condition. I will share this book with others!!!!
Buy this book December 14, 2008
I bought the book after I saw the film on TV. It is quite stunning. The book chronicles the emerging views of a group of students in school in Los Angeles who are taught by a new teacher. This teacher has fresh ideas and strong principles that she lives up to. She always goes the extra mile for the kids, getting extra part time jobs to buy them books, take them on educational trips etc. More than tha,t she manages to relate the tensions and tragedies of their lives to others in literature, the story of Anne Franc, for instance. This has a transforming effect on the kids who become freedom writers as a result (a pun on the freedom riders who broke segregation in the south).
It is totally inspiring, though also deeply critical of much of US society and its education system.
Obama will need a whole generation of freedom writers but this book gives some idea of how to produce them. Yes they can!
Must read for anyone working with youth December 8, 2008
Heartbreaking and hopeful - a rare combination. You won't be able to put it down and once you've finished you'll want to know more about the lives of the teenagers. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is or has worked with youth.
 Gunshot Lullabies December 1, 2008
The book I choose to read was, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. This book is a compilation of diary entries spanning a four year time period in which 150 teens were able to transform their outlook on life. Also included in the book are a few entries from Ms. Gruwell, who was able to not only teach the "at risk" freshman but also teach the world that we are more than the color of our skin. The Freedom Writers Diary has been able to appeal to a diverse audience. The book is meant to inspire young teachers to go beyond what might be expected of them in the classroom. It also has the power to show students both considered "at risk" and "privileged" that there is more to learn from school classrooms than just Shakespeare and geometry.
The Freedom Writes began as a group of "at risk" and "unteachable" students. They made up whom many considered the worst of the worst at Wilson High School. One Freedom Writer wrote, "... the educational system desperately tried to hold us down. By labeling us at an early age, they were almost able to affect our school record for life. It wasn't until someone realized that "tracking" is wrong that the stereotyped "at risk" urban high school kids were given their chance. These urban kids, however, were never truly given the chance to prove that if only given the opportunity, we could rise to the occasion; and rise to the occasion we have" (Diary 142 269). The person responsible for giving these urban high school students a chance was Ms. Gruwell, a young white teacher from New Port Beach. At first many of the students in Ms. Gruwell's class had a hard time relating to a teacher that seemed so different from themselves. Eventually, she was able to show her students that even though she was white and came from a privileged neighborhood she could still emphasize with the situations they were in. To show the class she understood their struggles she compared Shakespeare to the local gangs, and surprised many students when she was able to name the gangs in the area. In an effort to teach these students that their race or ethnicity was not the most important thing about them she introduced them all to Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic. Through reading the journals of these two brave young women, the students from Ms. Gruwell's class would never be the same.
As for why the Freedom Writers decided to publish their diaries, Erin Gruwell writes, "The Freedom Writers see this book as the third leg of a relay race. Anne's story inspired Zlata, who has been hailed as the modern day Anne Frank. Zlata then reciprocated by passing the baton to the Freedom Writers. We hope this book will inspire you to be the fourth leg of the race by encouraging you to pick up the pen and be a catalyst for change" (Gruwell 277). This book was published to serve as a tool for students and teachers alike to challenge society and help make a better future for all. The Freedom Writers want to teach the world about tolerance, as they have shown with how they choose their name. In a diary entry, one of the Freedom Writers describes how they got their name:
Ms. G showed us a video during Black History Month, about a group of Civil Rights activists, in the 1960's, who were inspired by Rosa Parks. They decided to challenge segregation in the South. Rather than boycott buses, they took their challenge a stepfather. They integrated their bus and traveled from Washington, D.C., through the deep south. There were seven whites and six blacks on the bus. They were called the Freedom Riders. They Freedom Riders had faith that what they were doing was right, and they wanted the world to know that change was necessary and that being tolerant of each other is good. (Diary 75 154)
This student goes on to write, "Then someone in class suggested that we name ourselves the Freedom Writers, in honor of the Freedom Riders. Why not? It's perfect! But those are huge shoes to fill, so if we're going to take their name, we better take their courage and conviction. It's one thing to ride a bus, but they eventually had to get off and face the music" (Diary 75 154). The Freedom Writes along with their teacher were able to live up to the expectations set by the Freedom Riders.
While the collection did not directly spell out any arguments, it is clear that Ms. Gruwell had very clear ideas about what she wanted her students to accomplish. The first, which may seem to be the simplest, but in context to her student's lives, proved the most difficult, was to ensure all her students received a valuable education and graduated from high school. Ms. Gruwell believed that a major obstacle to her student's education was the educational system they grew up with. She writes:
The system separates them and they're stereotyped as "basic," but in reality, they're anything but basic. In many ways they are extraordinary. But even though the labels have changed over the years from "bonehead," to "remedial," to "basic," the effects are still the same. It's almost like these kids are scarred from the get-go. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that is you tell kids they're stupid, directly or indirectly, sooner or later they start to believe it. (Gruwell 32)
You can see how one teacher with a dream to change the system did just that through the entries from the students. At the beginning of Ms. Gruwell's freshman year, her students had no faith that they would be able to graduate high school but by senior year, they were all graduating! One student writes, "Tomorrow is the big day. I am graduating from High School. I have proven to everyone that I would graduate on time with everyone else in my class. Very few people believed that I would graduate. I proved to the non believers that they were wrong" (Diary 141 267). Another student writes, "Now my dream of being the first person in my family to graduate is coming true! I have learned that it doesn't matter if your inspiration comes from positive or negative events. The most important thing is to learn and go on" (Diary 139 264).
Another main "argument" of the book is that the students of Room 203 want the world to understand that there is war going on right here in the urban streets of America. Every morning the Freedom Writers wake up to a world much different from one most of us call home. A Freedom Writer says, "Reality is difficult for me because of where I live. I live in a neighborhood where the sounds of gunshots are my lullaby. The smell of weed lingers in the air and most of the people around drink 40s like it's going out of style. The crime in the area is horrific" (Diary 136 259). Most of the Freedom Writers grew up in neighborhoods just like this. Another student writes:
My friend shouldn't have died that night. He's not the first nor will he be last friend that I lose. I've lost many friends, friends who have died in an undeclared war. A war that has been here for years, but has never been recognized. A war between color and race. A war that will never end. A war that has left family and friends crying for loved ones who have perished. To society, they're just another dead person on the street corner; just another statistic. But to mothers of all those other statistics, they're more than simple numbers. They represent more lives cut short, more cut flowers. Like the ones once placed on their graves. (Diary 6 16)
The Freedom Writers want the world to hear their story. They want people to understand that the streets are killing them. In addition, they want the world to understand that they are worth saving.
I believe this book does an excellent job of supporting the main themes of the text. While it is difficult to fully share how the students evolved in this review it is unmistakable if one is to read The Freedom Writers Diary. Instead of using diary entries from just a few of Ms. Gruwell's students, the entries were taken from over 100 different students. Because of this, most anyone who reads the book is able to make a personal connection to the student's stories. I would recommend this book to any person who wants to read a story of triumph. While many of the stories made me cry, they also inspired me to be a better person. They made me want to take a better look at the world and try to make a difference. Any book that has the power to facilitate change deserves to be read. On a side note I found this review difficult to write because it is hard to speak for the Freedom Writers, more often than not, I found myself wanting to let them speak for themselves. For this reason, I may have used direct quotes too liberally throughout the review. With that said I will you leave another quote:
Four years ago, it would have been unimaginable for us, a group of diverse kids, to work together in class discussions, and today, we learn together, we laugh together, we cry together, and we wouldn't have it any other way. We managed to make it past all the superficial labels like "at risk," or "below average"; even the ones that were put on Ms. Gruwell, like "too young and too white." Not only did we make it past all these small obstacles, but also through a wide range of triumphs and tragedies. I remember back in our freshman year, people still didn't understand the importance of a pen instead of a gun ... Looking back, I can't believe that those same unteachable kids who refused to speak to each other are today's Freedom Writers ... the same Freedom Writers who became a family. (Diary 142 269)
The Freedom Writer's Diary October 30, 2008
The Freedom Writers Diary is a powerful story of how one person changed 150 lives in their high school career. Mrs. Gruwell, a new teacher at Wilson High School, gets a class full of freshman misfits. "All these kids are in gangs and most have either been in jail or are on probation now." "They have always been the bad, stupid rejects so why would they change now?" She thinks all the people who made comments like these are exaggerating just to scare her. She doesn't think she will have to worry about stupid things like her pearls getting stolen or being made fun of. Mrs. Gruwell thinks all her kids will respect her because she's a teacher. She will soon find out that she is sadly mistaken.
The bell rings but the seats in room 203 are empty. A few minutes later, a group of kids come stumbling in, slam down their books, and rearrange the desks into four different clicks: Latinos, Asians, African Americans, and whites. Mrs. Gruwell tries to get their attention, but is ignored. The kids start tormenting her on her young white skin. They are trying to make her cry because then she will most likely quit. They are horribly wrong because she is determined to make them better kids. Her class will soon learn that she is not joking around about their lives.
Mrs. Gruwell makes it her goal to change their lives and show them that college can be a real possibility. She only wants to give them a brighter future so generations after them can follow. She has them read about great people such as Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic and then write about how their lives are similar. The students find out that Mrs. Gruwell really does care and might be able to improve their lives. The class now loves writing and they all start staying until 10 or 11 o'clock at night to read and edit their peers' papers. Each student in the class keeps their own diary to see how far they have come since the beginning of the year. They say writing is how they can express themselves freely. Mrs. Gruwell acts as a second mom to all of these kids and she is changing their lives immensely. She has given them opportunities and shown them things that they never knew existed. Her class has gone to Washington D.C. to see where the Freedom Riders started their journey, met Zlata Filipovic and Miep Geis, and many other things too. They wrote and published their diaries so now other people can read about what they have accomplished and the goals they have met. Since the students have become famous, they are now referred as the class of room 203.
It is an amazing experience to read this touching and life-changing story. It's great to read for any purpose including motivational, educational, or enjoyment. One person changed the class of room 203 and now that class is changing the world one person at a time by sharing their diaries.
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