The Freedom Writers' Diary

So for our book project, my group decided to read The Freedom Writers' Diary. I didn't know much about the book to begin with, only that it had been made into a movie with Hillary Swank and Patrick Dempsey. I was very impressed by the book, it was much different than I expected it to be. It was a compilation of diary entries from a group of students who were in Ms. Gruwell's English class at Wilson High School. These kids were never expected to graduate high school, and most of them never even expected that they would live to see graduation day. Erin Gruwell was a young white woman from Long Beach California, a culture completely different from her students'. She was given the "throwaway kids", the underprivileged ones that nobody else wanted. But instead of giving up on them, she decided that there was no reason that these students shouldn't succeed, and thrive. She made it her responsibility to get through to her students and help them to realize their own potential. She made them feel cared for. Before, nobody ever showed them that they cared if they succeeded or not. Erin Gruwell made it clear to them that she wasn't going to accept anything less than their best. She gave them opportunities that they never would have had otherwise. She showed them that they are responsible for their own destinies and that they can do anything if they just take control of their own lives. Erin Gruwell was a wonderful teacher who did everything that she could to make sure that her students are the best people that they can be.