Unreturned library book leads to woman's arrest

Unreturned library book leads to woman's arrest (copied below) was published online day before yesterday (January 24th), but I didn't get around to reading it until just now. I was surprised to learn the book she failed to return was the last book we read together (in September 2008): The Freedom Writers Diary. (Click on the title to read our discussion about the book, or click here to read what we said about the book on my Banned Books blog.)

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa – An Iowa woman has been arrested because she failed to return a library book. Thirty-nine-year-old Shelly Koontz was arrested Thursday night on a fifth-degree theft charge. She is accused of keeping "The Freedom Writers Diary," which she checked out from the public library in nearby Jesup in April. Police say the book — which is about a high school teacher's effort to inspire students to write — is valued at $13.95. Court records show library employees tried repeatedly to contact Koontz by phone and mail. A police officer even visited her home last September. Officials at the Buchanan County jail say Koontz was released after posting $250 bond.

It appears to me this woman "borrowed" the book in order to take it out of circulation, which may be the REAL reason she was arrested. What do you think?

FWD ~ Follow-Up Read

Because I read The Freedom Writers Diary last year, I didn't read it with the Book Buddies in September. But I had hoped to read Erin Gruwell's memoir Teach With Your Heart: Lessons I Learned From the Freedom Writers instead.


As is more often than not the case in my life at present, I was running behind schedule - so I didn't get to Teach With Your Heart until October. I did want to let those who enjoyed The Freedom Writers Diary know that I enjoyed Teach With Your Heart just as well. It's the same story but more from Gruwell's viewpoint than from the students'. (I've posted a brief review on my book blog.)

Last chance to vote on a year's worth of books

Voting has been open since the end of August, and you have only one more day to vote. Anyone reading this blog is welcome to vote, so click on your favorites of these twelve ... and also your least favorites in the next poll down the sidebar.

From The Other Side of the Bridge to The Freedom Writers Diary, we've traveled the globe together. Help me remember (in the comments) where we've been.

The Other Side of the Bridge (OSB)
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (BSP)
Cold Comfort Farm (CCF)
Pictures of Hollis Woods (PHW)
In Lucia's Eyes (ILE)
People of the Book (POB)
The Camel Bookmobile (CB)
Windfalls (WF)
The Devil in the White City (DWC)
Jim the Boy (JTB)
Suite Française (SF)
The Freedom Writers Diary (FWD)

We have completed a year together, but I think that's enough ... at least for me. I'm sorry, Shirley, but the interest just isn't here. Thanks, Marylyn, for your major effort to make Book Buddies work during August. Thanks to those of you who have read and commented on books we've shared. For now, however, I have decided to devote more time to writing ... and to leading the writers in the Chattanooga region who (foolishly?) try to write the draft of a novel in the 30 days of November. Read about it on Bonnie's NaNoWriMo* 2008 blog.

Essencia Island will continue to be a place for book buddies to talk to each other, so drop by there anytime you want to chat.

Superstar Teachers

In reading the Freedom Writers, I was quite impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of the author. She is the teacher everyone would have liked to have had for themselves and their children. Has anyone had or has one of their children had a teacher that made such a difference in the life of themself or their child? I have had some good teachers and mainly mediocre ones which was the experience for my children as well with none being truly outstanding. This is the same way with coaches. I have read stories and seen movies of a coach that makes a difference in the lives of the team, but again none made the mark of the ones in the lives of my children. Of course, if such teachers were the rule rather than the exception, it wouldn't be worth reading a book about her.

FWD ~ Freshman Year

1. Why do you think Ms. Gruwell refers to the Nazis as the most famous gang in history? Why does this comparison make the students listen to her?

2. Why are the students so unwilling to associate with anyone outside their own ethnic or racial groups? Where does this intolerance come from?

3. Why is trust such an important part of a teacher-student relationship?

4. Respect and trust are not only a problem among the students. Teachers and administrators at Wilson High School don't support Ms. Gruwell's teaching methods. Why do they refuse to trust her?

5. Why are the students so filled with anger at the beginning of the book? Do you think their anger is reasonable?

6. Have you ever kept a diary or journal?

Voting for MOST and LEAST enjoyable books

During September 2007, we began to gather ourselves as Book Buddies on this blog. In October 2007, we started reading and discussing books. If you are a current or former Book Buddy, you are invited to vote on the ones you liked MOST and LEAST. If you are a regular ... or even occasional ... reader of our blog, you are also welcome to vote on ones you've read, pro or con.

Please leave a comment on this post about the books, too. Tell us what you did or didn't like about a particular book. Let's see what's been good and bad about this year of plowing through books together.

Oct 2007 ~ The Other Side of the Bridge (OSB) ~ by Mary Lawson
Nov 2007 ~ The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (BSP) ~ by John Boyne
Dec 2007 ~ Cold Comfort Farm (CCF) ~ by Stella Gibbons
Jan 2008 ~ Pictures of Hollis Woods (PHW) ~ by Patricia Reilly Giff
Feb 2008 ~ In Lucia's Eyes (ILE) ~ by Arthur Japin
Mar 2008 ~ People of the Book (POB) ~ by Geraldine Brooks
Apr 2008 ~ The Camel Bookmobile (CB) ~ by Masha Hamilton
May 2008 ~ Windfalls (WF) ~ by Jean Hegland
Jun 2008 ~ The Devil in the White City (DWC) ~ by Erik Larson
Jul 2008 ~ Jim the Boy (JTB) ~ by Tony Earley
Aug 2008 ~ Suite Française (SF) ~ by Irène Némirovsky
Sep 2008 ~ The Freedom Writers Diary (FWD) ~ by The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell, 1999

The Freedom Writers Diary ~ our September book

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 Foundation

Wikipedia's "Erin Gruwell"

And here are a couple of YouTube videos about the Freedom Writers from the movie:





Getting started
Read an excerpt online
What we said about the book
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Freshman Year
Sophomore Year
Junior Year
Senior Year

My suggestion for September

I'm really enjoying the book I'm reading now: The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell. Over on my Banned Books blog, we picked up on a controversy swirling around this book ... a teacher in Indiana was suspended from her school for choosing this book for her class to read. Check out these posts from my other blogs by clicking on the links:

Saturday the 16th ~ Let's Talk About It (see sidebar)

Sunday the 17th ~ Alison's review of the book

Tuesday the 19th ~ Book chosen for my Bella Novella book club

Thursday the 21st ~ Teacher suspended for teaching it

The book has been made into a movie starring Hilary Swank, and the husband of the suspended teacher has commented on the first blog post listed above.