Freedom Writers Diary

I am very pleased with myself. For the first time in months (and only the second time ever), I not only read the book, but read it in time, AND went to the book club meeting. This rocks!

Unfortunately, I did not love the book. I wanted to, being a teacher who hopes she makes a difference, even in some small way, in the lives of her students. Particularly since it was a true story, it had all the potential of a classic tearjerker where this sap is concerned, and yet, it fell flat.

First of all, they edited it so much that it felt fake. I think I would have much preferred to see the diary entries as photocopies in the students' own handwriting. It would have added a level of authenticity that was sorely lacking.

The other major problem with it was that I felt there were things missing. If, in a regular school, in a safer environment, students are ridiculed for focusing on their studies, I can only imagine what the Freedom Writers were going through with all of the challenges that their lives presented for them. I would have liked to have seen more of a rounded picture, more balance between "yay, us!" and what was going on outside their academic utopia.

I think I would have liked this better if it had been fiction, to allow me to suspend my disbelief. I felt, being a true story, it should have felt much more real than it did. We didn't get to see the whole picture.

Maybe I would have liked it better if I'd only seen the movie, when I could have said, "Well, they only had so many minutes -- they couldn't show everything."

Ironic, given that the whole book is about the power of the written word.