The Freedom Writers Diary

I read this one for the Tempest Banned Book Group. The stories told by the students in The Freedom Writers Diary resonated with me because of all the stories I hear from my own students. Not a day goes by when I don't receive glimpses into their lives and hear things foreign to my own experiences. Reading the The Freedom Writers Diary was much like that for me. Those students face challenges and barriers to their success that I never encountered. And their teacher, through a combination of charisma, tenacity and yes, naivete, was able to make a huge difference in their lives. She stuck with this group of students for their entire high school career, seeing the vast majority of them through to graduation. A monumental feat for this particular population of students.