Okay, we're one week away from the end of August, so I'm going to make a decision. Shirley is the only one (so far) who has spoken up about my suggestion that we read The Freedom Writers Diary by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell (1999). Shirley's all for it, and I know Alison has read the book and is troubled by the situation of the teacher suspended for a year and a half for distributing the book to her students. Therefore, it's official. This is the book we'll discuss in September.
If you want to know more about Erin Gruwell, the teacher who had her students write diaries, read about her at these places online:Freedom Writers FoundationAnd here are a couple of YouTube videos about the Freedom Writers from the movie:
Wikipedia's "Erin Gruwell"
Getting started
Read an excerpt online
What we said about the book
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Freshman Year
Sophomore Year
Junior Year
Senior Year
2 comments:
i apologize for not having responded to your suggestion - this has been a terribly busy month at my office - but i'm glad you assumed that i was on board. The Freedom Writers Diary is a terrific book, and i think we can have a great discussion about it!
Alison, when I said I knew you were "troubled by the situation of the teacher," I was thinking of what you said in your comment on the Banned Book blog this past Sunday:
"this situation is just so troubling to me!"
http://bannedbookschallenge.blogspot.com/2008/08/suspended-teacher-freedom-writers-diary.html
You responded ... on the other blog we share. Thank you also for posting your review of the book on that blog a week earlier:
http://bannedbookschallenge.blogspot.com/2008/08/freedom-writers-diary-by-freedom_17.html
Post a Comment