The Freedom Writers Diary

How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them

By: Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers

Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman, Bahni Turpin, Cassandra Campbell

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The twentieth anniversary edition of the classic story of an incredible group of students and the teacher who inspired them, featuring updates on the students’ lives, new journal entries, and an introduction by Erin Gruwell

Now a public television documentary, Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart

In 1994, an idealistic first-year teacher in Long Beach, California, named Erin Gruwell confronted a room of “unteachable, at-risk” students. She had intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust. She was met by uncomprehending looks—none of her students had heard of one of the defining moments of the twentieth century. So she rebooted her entire curriculum, using treasured books such as Anne Frank’s diary as her guide to combat intolerance and misunderstanding. Her students began recording their thoughts and feelings in their own diaries, eventually dubbing themselves the “Freedom Writers.”

Consisting of powerful entries from the students’ diaries and narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an unforgettable story of how hard work, courage, and determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students. In the two decades since its original publication, the book has sold more than one million copies and inspired a major motion picture Freedom Writers. And now, with this twentieth-anniversary edition, readers are brought up to date on the lives of the Freedom Writers, as they blend indispensable takes on social issues with uplifting stories of attending college—and watch their own children follow in their footsteps. The Freedom Writers Diary remains a vital read for anyone who believes in second chances.©1999 The Tolerance Education Foundation; (P)2006 Books on Tape

Freedom!

Would you listen to The Freedom Writers Diary again? Why?

Freedom is not the ability to do whatever you WANT to do. Freedom is telling your story for you and others to grow from.

If you could give The Freedom Writers Diary a new subtitle, what would it be?

Moving Forward Through My Story

Inspirational!

This book should be required reading especially for future teachers, school administrators and high schoolers.

Authentic voices

Most of this book is excerpted from teen diaries, and the authenticity of the individual voices ring clear. Inspirational but never hokey, it reveals children's pain, hope and discovery. It reaffirmed my belief that there should be no throw-away children. The movie was a pallid shadow of this intriguing book.

The Freedom Writers Diary

I saw the movie with 2 friends, and we were all interested in reading the book. I particularly like audio productions, and this one was excellent. So much more depth than the movie, which is to be expected. I wish I had had a teacher like Miss Gruwell.

I am renewed

I was able to hear my students' voices in this book and was reminded why I teach.