Fourth Quarter Outside Reading Book Review
Freedom Writers Diary by: Erin Gruwell. Broadway Books; ã1999
Genre: Biography
The Freedom Writers Diary is a true story. The Diary was put together by a teacher from Wilson High School in Long Beach CA, named Erin Gruwell. The diary is made up of her student’s journal entries from their freshman year, all the way up to their senior year and the struggles that they face every day.
“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.” –double play publishing
Wilson High School is filled with gang violence, substance abuse, and racial intolerance. Most teachers at Wilson High give up easily on their students because of their lack of determination. The students were so used to everyone giving up on them, that when Ms. Gruwell was reaching out to them, they were confused and didn’t understand why. Ms. Gruwell assigned her students to write in journals everyday about the struggles they face day to day that way she could understand them more, and find things to incorporate into the curriculum that they could relate to.
I have never read any other books by Erin Gruwell, however this book reminds me a lot about A Child Called It by: David Pelzer. The two books are totally different but what they both have in common is that children are struggling and going through so much at such a young age. I also think that both books give the reader the same emotion while reading them.
"I feel as though chaos is stalking me, sliding its slimy tentacles into every crevice of my life." (P188).
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very inspiring, and made me realize how much I have going for me, and how there is a total different world out of South Hadley. I saw the movie ‘The Freedom Writers’ with Hillary Swank in it when it first came out back in 2007, and I really enjoyed it. The movie doesn’t even come close to how good the book was. I’m not sure if Erin Gruwell has any other books because she didn’t even really write this whole book, but if there are any other books out there like this one I would really enjoy reading it.
