The Freedom Writers Diary
By: Ashley Hill
Introduction
I picked this book because i love to read about other peoples struggles and how they learn to overcome them, and that is what this book is all about. I'm able to compare my own troubling times to theirs even though they don't match up exactly. So this book is basically like having a best friend with me helping myself through things with others stories. I also choose this book because they students that are writing the stories are my age, and that helps me to connect more with the book.
SUMMARY
Making a Connection
Her name was Erin Gruwell and she thought all of them could learn if someone actually gave them a chance. At first she was scared, she didn't want her students to hate her or think she was just another dumb teacher but her fear was getting in the way of her teaching. She made her most important connection she could have with her students in the classroom one day. A boy named sharaud came into class bouncing a basketball, she knew who he was, a disciplinary transfer from Wilson's crosstown rival. He had been kicked out of his other school because of threatening his other English teacher with a gun (even though it was really just a water gun) and now his man goal of this new school year was to make his new student teacher cry. But a few weeks later he was the one crying. Someone in class had drawn a picture of him with huge lips and wrote pass me on it. When he saw the picture it looked like he was going to cry then when Ms. Gruwell got the picture of him she went off. Saying " This is the type of propaganda that the Nazis used during the Holocaust". Thats when then a student asked whats the holocaust? when she asked the class how many of them knew about the Holocaust no one raised there hands. Thats when she made her first connection with the students and decide from now on out she was gonna get them new books, take them on field trips, and invite guest speakers. She didn't have the money for it but she didn't care she was going to bring history to life for her new students.
Lets be Honest
The only part i did not care for about the book was how i couldn't see which student wrote what. I know that was to protect there privacy but it was hard not being able to know that was their story and see if they were doing better now then they were. But that is the only flaw i had. I highly suggest this book to all readers especially high school students going through troubling times.