The Freedom Writers Diary May Set Your Teen Free

The Freedom Writers Diary by the Freedom Writers, led by Erin Gruwell, was first published in 1999. It was begun by Erin Grunnell, a young and idealistic first year teacher in Long Beach, California, as an innovative way to encourage and motivate at risk students to learn and participate in their own education. Ms. Gruwell abandoned conventional and straight-laced methods of teaching special education students and adopted this method of teaching: she bought books such as The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank and A Child's Life by Zlata Filipovic, taught from them and encouraged her own students to keep their own journals. As the years passed, her students, who named themselves "The Freedom Writers" decided to edit their favorite journal entries and publish a book. The book, which became known as The Freedom Writers Diary was later published and has recently been made into a movie starring Hilary Swank. By having her students read about Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic's life, Ms. Gruwell hoped to demonstrate to them that these girls had just as bad, if not worse, lives and to give her students the desire to better themselves.

I had a great deal of admiration for Ms. Gruwell and her students after reading this book. Ms. Gruwell is a phenomenal and talented teacher who did an amazing job with her students. Her students were able to dig down deep into their hearts, souls and minds and prove everyone wrong by publishing a book, graduating from high school, going to college, leading successful lives and meeting other successful people. Their entries were touching, open-minded and powerfully honest. A reader can learn a lot about life in urban America and about learning open-mindedness by reading these entries. It is a very uplifting and powerful book. I finished it with a positive feeling.

There was one thing that left a sour taste in my mouth. There were some clichés that were difficult for me to get beyond. For instance, Ms. Gruwell was a first year teacher when she began teaching in this public school in Long Beach. One of her entries discussed how older, more experienced teachers resented her unconventional teaching methods and bad-mouthed what she was trying to do. I almost expected one of her entries to talk about how all of the teachers sabotaged her book by stealing the only version available and burning it in a trash can in the girls' bathroom. Every single movie or book about young teachers that are teach at risk, special needs children seems to have that moment where the teachers that have been around the block a couple of times resents the new, young, bright teacher and voices that resentment loudly.

All in all, this book was pretty good. It did not come off as too smarmy or long winded. Journalists came across as real because they were allowed to be honest about their stories in a safe and supportive and in a safe way by not being required to put a name on their entries and not being judged by their teachers and administrators. All professionals that work with children, and not just teachers, should read this book.