“Freedom Writers” does for the 2000’s what “Stand and Deliver” did for the 1980’s except with less fun, not as many life lessons, and more drama. The basic concept behind “Freedom Writers” is that ...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Erin Gruwell learned to pick winners from her father and used the lesson to help 150 kids rise above gang-infested streets and trouble-ridden homes. On ...

The 150 "unteachable" students who Erin Gruwell taught in Room 203 at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach aren't teens fighting violence, racism, poverty and gangs anymore. They're adults now.

“Freedom Writers Family” is a look behind the scenes at the making of the movie, and tries to push the idea that the cast shared similar experiences with Gruwell’s students growing up. Oddly, most of ...

SAN LEANDRO — Young people who have made bad choices got a heady glimpse of Hollywood and the world of best-selling books on Thursdsay. The message for three dozen detainees at Alameda County Juvenile ...

A group of young, international writers were treated like literary rock stars earlier this week in Long Beach. A couple of hundred people gathered outside the Hotel Maya for the book launch of “Dear ...

Educator and writer Erin Gruwell, the author of a book that inspired the academy award-winning movie, “Freedom Writers,” aims to be a catalyst for change. She will share her experiences as a teacher ...

AN INSPIRATIONAL teacher story that won’t be making many friends among sensitive educators or at the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, “Freedom Writers” proffers its platitudes invitingly even as its ...

Another movie about a well-meaning, white-bread teacher thrust among the savages? No, not by a long shot. Although "Freedom Writers" is the latest in a long line of saint-saves-students stories, it ...

Intriguing glimpses into the lives of poor, disadvantaged, racially divided kids in contemporary American society get waylaid in "Freedom Writers" as it becomes a 21st century redo of "Blackboard ...