Customer Reviews
Courtesy of Teens Read Too - By: TeensReadToo.com, 05 May 2007 
This is the book that the movie "The Freedom Writers" is based on. These are the diaries of the students put into one book.
There are no names usedin the book--each diary entry has a number, so that the students could feel free to write what they wanted without knowing exactly who wrote what. Personally, I think this is a great idea because the diary entries were very open & you could tell the students wrote exactly what they felt.
THE FREEDOM WRITERS DIARY is a truly excellent book, because everything is so real & most of The Freedom Writers had to grow up at an extremely early age. Many had their innocence taken away around the age of ten. The Rodney King riots were going on & the Columbine High School event occurred during the time of the book. These high school students had seen more murder & dead bodies then most people will ever seein their entire lives.
99% of The Freedom Writers have even been shot at. This is an extremely true & eye-opening statistic. Segregation is still an issuein the United States, even though many people don't have to deal with it. This book taught me a lot about tolerance & what happens on the streets of Long Beach, California.
Reviewed by: Taylor Rector
Sad but inspiring accounts - By: Liz B., 15 Mar 2007 
This book contains sad & graphic accounts of the lives of inner city studentsin the form of over 100 personal diary recollections. The students describein detail physical & sexual abuse. The accounts contain graphic language & often extreme violence, which makes the book unsuitable for all readers, though the nature of these descriptions is a reflection of each student's life & the dangers they face. This book allows the reader to understand the perspective of students & develop empathy for them rather than passing judgment according to abstract & unrealistic standards. Social workers & teachers would gain a lot from this book but it's appeal isn't limited to them.
Other books that I highly recommend are the novel "Nexus" by Morrison & Singh, which offers a poignant journey of people trying to overcome pain at a spiritual retreat & "The Pursuit of Happyness" by Chris Gardner, which has become a movie starring Will Smith.
