Rating: 
Summary: A Weak Read For The Gullible
Review: An alternate title might be "My Success", since the author's name is the common denominator of every page in this book. The diary entries contain nothing verifiable, and any follow-up information is, incredibly, absent. Except: a post office box address where donations may be sent to the author's tax-exempt foundation. So many fine books are waiting to be read that it seems horrific to find this volume considered prime reading for young and impressionable educators.
Rating: 
Summary: Beauty, Elegance, Hope and on FIRE
Review: Are you jaded? Do you think you can't make a difference? Are you ready to alter your life? After reading this book you will! I was lucky when I was in school, I had many great teachers. Now I have been blessed again with a lesson from a 150 students and a strong willed teacher. This book is wonderful, Thank you, Thank You Thank you!
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring testament to the power of passionate teaching!
Review: As a prospective high school teacher who will most likely work in a school demographically similar to Wilson High, I am deeply inspired by the story of Erin Gruwell and her amazing students. Branded their entire lives as underacheivers and losers, Gruwell's students, with the help of an extremely determined and passionate teacher, were able to use writing as a means of fighting back against the labels they were given and succeed despite the odds. I really liked the way Gruwell got her students interested in learning about events like the Holocaust and the war in Bosnia by relating those events to the daily gang warfare that had become so much a part of her students' lives. Not only did this lesson make learning meaningful, but Gruwell managed to get a bunch of students who "hated to read" to get excited about meeting the woman who hid Anne Frank from the Nazis, as well as spending several days with a young girl who had fled the war in Bosnia. This book is a must-read particularly for young and inexperienced teachers because it shows how Gruwell, who started the Freedom Writers as an inexperienced 23-year-old teacher, was able to make such a positive change in her students' lives. Gruwell has managed to engage her students in a way that many teachers with 30 years or more of teaching experience have yet to accomplish. The Freedom Writers Diary has taught me that even I, an inexperienced teacher only slightly older than Gruwell when she started, can potentially have the same effect on my students through determination and a strong belief in what my students can accomplish.
Rating:
Summary: Enlightenment
Review: As a prospective teacher, I personally found this book to be enlightening. When I began reading the poignant accounts of the social issues adolescents are dealing with today I felt so ignorant. I even questioned my ability to be an effective teacher. However, by the end of the book I felt motivated and inspired by the metamorphosis of a first-year teacher, and her labled and stereotyped students. As a result of reading this book I feel I am more aware of the importance of recognizing the assets each and every student brings to the classroom, and how important it is to encourage students to strengthen these assets through meaningful interactions. This book is a perfect example of what happens when teachers see nothing less than the potential for their students to accomplish great things. I recommend this book to prospective teachers, current teachers and students.
Rating: 
Summary: Students speak out
Review: English teacher Erin Gruwell had her students, who had been written off as unteachable, write diary entries about their lives and activities in class as she exposed them to lessons about acceptance and prejudice. These diary entries form the meat of the book and many of them are real eye-openers. I knew that there are many kids in our society living in situations that are really intolerable, but I was nevertheless shocked by many of the things I read. In the end I was impressed by many of the students, saddened by others.I would have liked to read a bit more from Gruwell herself. Although she mentions what a struggle she had with her class at times, I got the sense from reading the entries that the students started making connections between their lives and their texts and producing well-written, introspective diary entries fairly quickly. I have no doubt that Gruwell accomplished amazing things, but it sometimes comes across as too pat. Surely there were some students she didn't reach. Surely there were times when her approach failed and she had to go back and rethink her methods. But then again, I suppose that's all material for a different book. This one is reserved for the voices of the students. It's a good read.
Rating:
Summary: WoW!
Review: Every person, young and old, needs to read this book. It shows that high school dropouts can still push and make it through high school with the right kind of help. People, who tend to join gangs, have babies or die accidentally in a bad neighborhood make a difference by going to peace rallies and raising clean money to bring famous world changing people to their school in Los Angeles. This book is of their journal entries from freshman year to senior year. This is a great way to show people how just because people are stereotyped into not becoming the best they can be, doesn't mean they won't make a difference.
Rating:
Summary: An inspiring, gut-wrenching account!
Review: Having spent an hour and a half with tears streaming down my face at an appearance by Erin Gruwell and four of her Freedowm Writers, I bought the book. That was Friday afternoon. It's now Wednesday night, and I can't stop telling people about this book. The kids' entries ring so true to anyone who's been around today's youth for any length of time (sorry, Erin Salona). The parallels that Erin helped the kids see between Anne Frank's and Zlata's lives and their own provided the inspiration for her students to pick up a pen rather than a gun. Their message of tolerance needs to be heard by everyone! I only wish I could afford to buy a case so that I could give copies to some of my former sixth grade students who remain "at-risk" students. A must-read for all teachers and parents!
Rating:
Summary: a moving book that touches the soul of tolerance
Review: I am a 23 year old teacher of a 7/8 combination Opportunity Program in Northern CA. My students are all considered "at-risk, throw-away" kids, just like the Freedom Writers. Although my students are lucky that they don't have to deal with many of the race issues or gang violence that The F.W.s do, they are able to relate to many of the feelings and concerns of the students in the book. The journal entries are written in a very "real" current language that the students can really relate to. My studnets, who say that they "hate reading" have reacted so strongly to this book that I think they are a different class! Tolerence has now become the focus of our class curriculum (by the students' choice!) and the Freedom Writers Diary is at the center of it all!! AN EXCELLENT AND MOVING BOOK!!
Rating:
Summary: Number 2 is a snob!
Review: I beg of you. Please do not tolerate the opinions of the arrogant. Judgments come easily from those who have not witnessed the agony of the streets. The importance of this book is not to portray correct grammar and usage. It is to congratulate and notice the efforts of a single teacher in the warzone of education today. It is to cheer those who have lifted themselves from the turmoil of the alleys. If one is looking for a "proper" essay, one should read a dry piece from critic number 2. If one wants to share in the passionate experiences of someone else, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional book
Review: I bought this book a few weeks ago, and read it in one night. As a recent escapee...er...graduate from high school, the stories rang true for me. In my opinion, the book points out a fundamental flaw in education today - too many teachers concentrate simply on jamming as many facts as possible into their student's heads. Not only does this leave many students with little real world knowledge, or knowledge about how to apply what they've learned, but it makes it hard for them to take school seriously because simply surviving seems so much more important than these facts which seem to have little bearing on their lives. The Freedom Writers show what can be accomplished by addressing this problem. This is an important book that should be read by anyone who cares (about anything!).
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