The Freedom Writers Diary
Hello everybody and happy Wednesday! For today’s Wednesday Works I will be talking about a book that really broke and also warmed my heart when I first read it in middle school. The book is titled “The Freedom Writers Diary”. The book was made by various high school students and their teacher from Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, Calif. When the students’ teacher, Erin Gruwell, realized that her student’s lives in Long Beach revolved around gang violence, abuse and neglect, Gruwell sought out a way for the students to be able to come to school, specifically her classroom, and be free from the violence. This group of students were educationally at risk of not being able to graduate, but Gruwell sought out to change that as well. Gruwell encouraged the students to write down their struggles in their composition notebooks at school and when they were done, Gruwell would lock the notebooks in a filing cabinet in her classroom so nobody would be able to see the notebooks if the student didn’t want them to.
Gruwell challenged the students to read books that other teachers didn’t think they could read, due to the students’ low reading scores. Through this, Gruwell and her students created a bond like no other, filled with trust and understanding. It was when the students developed that trust in Gruwell that they felt comfortable enough to share their stories they wrote down in their notebooks with her. Thus, “The Freedom Writer’s Diary” was in the works. It consists of a compilation of the students journal entries. Through the student’s hard work inside the classroom and outside the classroom, they were able to redirect their lives from gang violence and being considered “at risk” education-wise to being able to graduate from high school and moving on to college.
I would definitely recommend this book because it is heartwarming in the fact that we as the reader get to see and experience the pain and troubles each student had to go through to get where they are today. We also get to see the outcome of the hard work each student put into making this diary for us to read.
I would rate this book a 10/10 for it’s beautiful framework of growth and prosperity.
If you would like to recommend the next book I should review for next week's Wednesday Works, or if you would like to recommend a movie for me to review for this week's Friday Flicks, feel free to leave a comment!
Savannah Boone is a staff writer for the GCDW. In this column, she will write about books and other forms of writing. She loves spending time with her family and friends, reading and watching movies, specifically the Harry Potter series. If you would like to share your story or if you need a friend to talk to, Savannah can be reached at sjboone18@gmail.com.
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