Teach with Your Heart - by Erin Gruwell (Paperback)

About the Book

A high school teacher in Long Beach, California, and participant in the Freedom Writers Project recounts how her students have helped her figure out the best ways to work for educational reform and continually renew her sense of commitment to and compassion for young people.

Book Synopsis

The extraordinary memoir of the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Freedom Writers Diary, who's been hailed as "a true inspiration" (Hilary Swank) and "simply magical when it comes to inspiring people to action" (Los Angeles Times).

Don't miss the public television documentary Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart

In this passionate, poignant, and deeply personal memoir and call to arms, Erin Gruwell, the dynamic teacher who nurtured an extraordinary group of high school students from Long Beach, California, who called themselves the Freedom Writers, picks up where The Freedom Writers Diary--and the hit movie Freedom Writers--left off and brings the reader up to date on where the Freedom Writers are today.

Including their unforgettable trip to Auschwitz, where they met with Holocaust survivors; their tour of the attic of their beloved Anne Frank; and their visit to Bosnia with their friend Zlata Filipovic, Teach With Your Heart chronicles what happened with the Freedom Writers as they made their way through college and beyond. Along the way, Gruwell includes lessons for parents and teachers about what she learned from her remarkable band of students as she traveled through the emotional peaks and valleys on the front lines of our nation's educational system.

A mesmerizing story of one young woman's personal odyssey and of her unique ability to encourage others to follow in her footsteps, Teach With Your Heart is marked by the enviable radiance and irrepressible force of nature that are Erin Gruwell and her unbelievable determination to ensure that education in the United States truly meets the needs of every student.

Review Quotes

"Erin is a true inspiration and an example of the extraordinary difference one person can make in the world. She continues to transform the lives of students across the country through her work and The Freedom Writers Foundation." -- Hilary Swank, two-time Academy Award winner

"Ms. G., as the kids called her, embraced a concept that has been lost in modern life: writing can make pain tolerable, confusion clearer, and the self stronger." -- Anna Quindlen, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Rise and Shine

About the Author

Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers continue to share their stories with students and teachers from around the globe through their nonprofit, the Freedom Writers Foundation. They are the subject of the 2019 public television documentary Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart, and the 2007 feature lm Freedom Writers, starring Hilary Swank. Gruwell lives in Long Beach with her dog, Beau.