77 pages • 2 hours read
Erin Gruwell and Freedom WritersThe Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them
- Genre: Nonfiction; education
- Originally Published: 1999
- Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
- Structure/Length: Foreword, 8 parts (freshman-senior years, fall and spring) with student diary entries, and epilogue; approx. 292 pages; approx. 9 hours, 30 minutes on audio
- Central Concern: In 1994, first-year English teacher Erin Gruwell in Long Beach, California, draws criticism for her plan to devote the year to teaching tolerance and is reassigned to teach a class of “at-risk” freshman. She wins them over with a curriculum that connects literature to their real lives, and their diary writing turns into a project that spans their four years of high school and leads to enriching experiences they never could have imagined.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Race-based gang violence; domestic violence; drug and alcohol addiction; homelessness; sexual abuse; statutory rape; rape
Erin Gruwell, Author
- Bio: Born in 1969 in California; graduated from UC Irvine and earned her master’s degree from California State University, Long Beach; is a teacher, author, and activist; founded the nonprofit Freedom Writers Foundation; has been awarded the Spirit of Anne Frank Award and other humanitarian awards; hosts the Freedom Writers Podcast; Freedom Writers was adapted into a movie starring Hilary Swank in 2007; the PBS documentary Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart (2019) won an Emmy award
- Other Works: Teach with Your Heart: Lessons I Learned from the Freedom Writers (2008); Teaching Hope: Stories from the Freedom Writers Teachers and Erin Gruwell (2009); 1,001 Pearls of Teachers’ Wisdom: Quotations on Life and Learning (with Frank McCourt; 2011); Dear Freedom Writer: Stories of Hardship and Hope from the Next Generation (2022)
- Awards: New York Times best seller
