Chapters 15-20

These chapters followed the sophomore year of Erin and her classes. It started with a “Toast for Change”, which was intended for students to start fresh academically, but the students took it even further than that. They wanted to change their lives so they didn’t end up like most of their family and friends in the streets. Erin once again had to purchase books for her class which included Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. The class could relate to the story because they saw the tragedy of war everyday of their lives. They got so involved with Anne’s story that Darrius came up with the idea of inviting Miep Gies to Long Beach. Luckily Miep was already planning a trip to the area, so the students put together all of the details to have Miep come and speak to the class. The next big project of the year came after the class read Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo. The class wanted to invite Zlata to the U.S., but this time they had so much more work to do and money to raise. They started by donating items to a raffle and Erin came through with getting hotel rooms and meals for Zlata and her family. In the end, everything came together and the students and their families were treated to a five course meal in the ballroom at the hotel with Zlata as the guest speaker.

It is quite upsetting that everyone else in that school has given up on these students, when they clearly have so much potential. I believe Erin has given her students a chance to succeed. In these chapters, the students are so enthusiastic about inviting Miep and Zlata to speak. Miep’s story of hiding Anne Frank and her family hit home for a lot of the students, and I especially liked it when one of the students called her a hero and Miep quickly said in response, “No!...I simply did what I had to do because it was the right thing to do!” I remember many these stories from The Freedom Writer’s Diary and the movie, especially the story about Darrius and his friend playing the “game” of Russian roulette. The only thing that Erin should be a little concerned about is her social life, especially her relationship with her husband, which has been nonexistent for the entire year.