 | |
| Author | The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Life Stories |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Tyrell Wickoson |
Publication date | 1999 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 277pp |
| Preceded by | Those Lips |
| Followed by | This Media |
The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them is a non-fiction 1999 book written by The Freedom Writers, a group of students from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, and their teacher Erin Gruwell. It is the basis of the 2007 movie Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank.
The Freedom Writers Diary was made up of journals that Erin Gruwell told her students to write in about the troubles of their past, present and future. The Freedom Writers name pays homage to the name of the 1960s civil rights group Freedom Riders.
After intercepting a racist drawing from one of her students, Gruwell compared the drawings to Nazi propaganda techniques. She drew blank stares; only one of them had heard of the Holocaust. As a result, she assigned them to read and write about the posthumously published 1947 book The Diary of Anne Frank (written between 1942 and 1944) and the 1992–93 non-fiction book by Zlata Filipović, Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo.[1]
The Freedom Writers Foundation continued with exercises and philosophies similar to those used in the original class, and tracks the progress of the original and continuing classes.
- ^ McGhee, Tom (2008-02-27). """Freedom Writers" tale inspires students"". www.denverpost.com. Retrieved 2008-03-26.