As An Idealistic Twenty-three-year-old English Teacher At Wilson High School In Long Beach, California. Erin Gruwell Confronted A Room Of Unteachable, At-risk Students. One Day She Intercepted A Note With An Ugly Racial Caricature, And Angrily Declared That This Was Precisely The Sort Of Thing That Led To The Holocaust - Only To Be Met By Uncomprehending Looks ... With Powerful Entries From The Students' Own Diaries And A Narrative Text By [her, This Book] Is An Uplifting, Unforgettable Example Of How Hard Work, Courage, And The Spirit Of Determination Changed The Lives Of A Teacher And Her Students.-back Cover. Freshman Year, Fall 1994 -- I. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- First Day Of School -- Racial Segregation At School -- Getting Jumped -- Race Riot On Campus -- Buying A Gun -- Death Of A Friend -- Gang Initiation -- Rushing A Sorority -- Tagging -- Proposition 187 : Discrimination -- Dyslexia -- Juvenile Hall -- The Projects -- Russian Roulette. Freshman Year, Spring 1995 -- Ii. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- Romeo And Juliet : Gang Rivalry -- Teenage Love And Running Away -- Coping With Weight -- Learning About Diversity -- Oklahoma Bombing -- Farewell To Manzanar : Japanese Internment Camps -- Overcoming Adversity Panel -- John Tu : Father Figure Vs. Absent Father -- Freshman Turnaround. Sophomore Year-fall 1995 -- Iii. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- Homelessness -- Cystic Fibrosis -- Shyness -- Twelve Angry Men -- Honors English -- Medieval Times -- Lesson On Tolerance -- Toast For Change -- Change For The Better -- Testifying In Murder Case -- Teenage Alcoholism -- Shoplifting -- Anne Frank's Diary -- Teen Diarists -- Zlata's Diary, Bosnia Vs. L.a. Riots -- Peter Maass : Article On Bosnia -- Zlata. Sophomore Year-spring 1996 -- A Letter To Zlata -- Iv. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- Meeting A Holocaust Survivor -- The Woman Who Sheltered Anne Frank's Family -- Moment -- Zlata Accepts Our Invitation -- Dinner With Zlata -- Diverse Friendships -- I Am A Human Being -- Terrorism -- Day Of Tolerance : A Field Trip -- Doing Speed -- Basketball For Bosnia : Weight -- Zlata's Letter -- Divorce -- Friends Join Class -- Letter From Miep. Junior Year, Fall 1996 -- V. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- Racist Teacher -- A Grandmother's Death -- Race Riot -- Grade Accountability -- Suicide -- Running Away -- Getting A Job -- Misogyny -- Molestation -- Boyfriend Abuse -- Domestic Violence -- Child Abuse -- Death Of Brother. Junior Year-spring 1997 -- Vi. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- Anne Frank's Friends Visit -- Masking Fears -- Living In The Projects -- Dyslexia -- Letter From Miep -- Student Editing -- Abortion -- Catalysts For Change -- Freedom Riders -- An American Diary ... Voices From An Undeclared War -- Fund-raiser Concert -- Freedom Writer Poem -- Freedom Writers Unite -- Strict Father -- Arlington Cemetery -- Lincoln Memorial : Freedom Writers Have A Dream -- Covering Up The Swastika -- Hate Crimes -- Holocaust Museum -- Dr. Mengele's Experiment With Twins -- Dinner With Secretary Riley -- Stand -- Secretary Riley Receives Freedom Writers' Diary -- Candlelight Vigil -- Departing D.c. -- Returning A Family Hero -- Jeremy Strohmeyer : Murder -- David Cash -- Peace March For Sherrice Iverson -- Senior Class President -- Separation Anxiety -- Staying Together. Senior Year, Fall 1997 -- Vii. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- Cheryl Best : Inspiration -- Eviction Notice -- Financial Problems -- Illegal Immigrant -- The First Latina Secretary Of Education -- Pursuing Filmmaking -- Road Not Taken : Contemplating College -- Finding A Mentor -- Being A Mentor -- Los Angeles Times Article -- A Letter From Prison -- Deadbeat Dad -- Sorority Hazing -- Fear Of Losing A Father -- Death Of A Mother. Senior Year, Spring 1998 -- Viii. Ms. Gruwell's Diary Entry -- Guess? Sponsorship -- Spirit Of Anne Frank Award -- New York City Roommates -- Celebrating Anne Frank -- Abuse Of Power -- Peter Maass : The Role Of A Journalist -- Book Agent -- Getting Published -- Basketball Playoffs : Teamwork -- A Lesson From Animal Farm -- Attitude Adjustment -- Introducing Senator Barbara Boxer -- Attention Deficit Disorder -- Homosexuality -- Prom Queen -- Whoever Saves One Life Saves The World Entire -- Breaking The Cycle -- Football All-american -- Baseball Dilemma -- A College Acceptance -- Fear Of Abandonment -- Teenage Pregnancy -- Southwest Airlines -- Computers For College! -- The Giving Tree : Crackhead Parents -- Graduation Class Speaker -- From Drugs To Honors -- Overcoming The Odds -- Graduation! The Freedom Writers With Erin Gruwell ; Foreword By Zlata Filipovic.