#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The twentieth anniversary edition of the classic story of an incredible group of students and the teacher who inspired them, featuring updates on the students’ lives, new journal entries, and an introduction by Erin Gruwell Now a public television documentary, Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart In 1994, an idealistic first-year teacher in Long Beach, California, named Erin Gruwell confronted a room of “unteachable, at-risk” students. She had intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust. She was met by uncomprehending looks—none of her students had heard of one of the defining moments of the twentieth century. So she rebooted her entire curriculum, using treasured books such as Anne Frank’s diary as her guide to combat intolerance and misunderstanding. Her students began recording their thoughts and feelings in their own diaries, eventually dubbing themselves the “Freedom Writers.” Consisting of powerful entries from the students’ diaries and narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an unforgettable story of how hard work, courage, and determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students. In the two decades since its original publication, the book has sold more than one million copies and inspired a major motion picture Freedom Writers. And now, with this twentieth-anniversary edition, readers are brought up to date on the lives of the Freedom Writers, as they blend indispensable takes on social issues with uplifting stories of attending college—and watch their own children follow in their footsteps. The Freedom Writers Diary remains a vital read for anyone who believes in second chances.

The end of junior high school marks a huge milestone in a young person's life; and this MY JUNIOR HIGH STORY guided journal will help them capture all of the special memories and milestones of their junior high school years before moving on to high school! Filled with over 100 pages of interview-style question and answer prompts and plenty of lined space to record: School statistics Favorite and least favorite classes, teachers, and subjects Details of school events, sports, dances, etc Memories of friends, holidays, and milestones Current entertainment, food, and social media favorites Hopes and dreams for the future Pages for photos and memorabilia along with autographs Once completed, this book will make a lasting keepsake and an heirloom for future generations! Makes a wonderful gift!

Stories From My Career is a compilation of 50 illustrated stories about the author's career as a college professor and media practitioner. Her career began in the 1960s when very few women were employed in either area and spanned six decades until her retirement. The initial stories take place in Pittsburgh, where she grew up, and Chicago, where she went to college, but most of the stories are centered in the Los Angeles area. A fair number also take place in other countries where she taught and consulted. The stories encompass topics such as combining career and family, the evolution of electronic technology, the civil rights movement, maternity leave practices, television production techniques, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, beginnings of cable TV, teaching challenges, media functions in developing nations, and career advice.

These short essays are sometimes humorous, sometimes funny, sometimes smile and/or laugh inducing, although they sometimes sit there like cups of flat, lukewarm, recycled beer. Even then, however, it must be admitted, they are short. Mostly they're pretty funny.

From the Introduction: The Gift of Faith When I first put my faith in Christ, He gave me a gift of faith. I thought every Christian received the same gift. In that moment, I suddenly believed God could do anything, absolutely anything. I believed the whole Bible was true, from cover to cover. I believed anything God did in the past He could do again. And I believed He could do even greater things than these—even through me. As Jesus said, “Truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these...” (John 14:12). It wasn’t until several years later, when I took a spiritual gifts “inventory,” that I realized God had given me a “gift” of faith, a supernatural gift to believe God can do supernatural things. And it was then that I realized God wanted me to use this gift as He wanted all of us to use our gifts—for building up others in their faith. Or, as the Apostle Paul says, “to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13). But I wondered how to do this. As I asked others, they said that whenever I would tell them my stories of faith—how God had worked in my life—they were encouraged in their faith to believe that God could work in their lives too. Yes! That made sense. When people needed a boost in their faith, I could give them some of mine. Isn’t that the way with all of our gifts? When people need wisdom or money or healing or help or encouragement, we share with them whatever wisdom or money or healing or help or encouragement we have been given (see 1 Corinthians 12-14). So I began that day sharing my stories of faith in a more intentional way—writing them down, sending them out, and telling them to others when they needed a lift. And that’s what I’m doing with this book for you. If you need a boost in your faith, if you need to believe that God can do something impossible for you, if you need to know that God is real, that He loves you, that He is FOR you and has a purpose for your life, then this book is for you. Because, along with hope and love, faith is one of the top three things we all need in life (see 1 Corinthians 13:13). With that as an introduction, I’d like to begin telling you a few of my stories of faith, starting with the day I was born. Well, not that far back! I’ll start with the day I was born again, at age 23, the day I put my faith in Christ—and He put His gift of faith in me. Eric Elder

Storied Lives: Emancipatory Educational Inquiry—Experience, Narrative, & Pedagogy in the International Landscape of Diversity contains exemplary research practices, strategies, and findings gleaned from the contributions to the 15 issues of the Journal of Critical Inquiry Into Curriculum and Instruction (JCI~>CI). Founding Editor Tonya Huber initiated the JCI~>CI in 1997, as a refereed journal committed to publishing educational scholarship and research of professionals in graduate study. The journal was distinguished by its requirement that the scholarship be the result of the first author’s graduate research—according to Cabell’s Directory, the first journal to do so. Equally important, the third issue of each volume targeted wide representation of cultures and world regions. “Current thinking on ...” written by members of the JCI~>CI Editorial Advisory Board explores state-of-the-art topics related to curriculum inquiry. Illustrations, photography (e.g., Sebastião Salgado’s Workers in vol. 2), collage, student-generated art/artifacts, and full-color art enhance cutting-edge methodologies extending educational research through Aboriginal and Native oral traditions, arts-based analysis, found poetry, data poetry, narrative, and case study foci on liberatory pedagogy and social justice action research.

DIVA frank and insightful memoir of a life spent in publishing, by one of literature’s most legendary agents/divDIV Sterling Lord has led an extraordinary life, from his youth in small-town Iowa to his post-war founding and editing of an English-language magazine in Paris, followed by his move to New York City to become one of the most powerful literary agents in the field. As agent to Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, and countless others—ranging from Jimmy Breslin and Rocky Graziano to the Berenstains and four US cabinet members—Lord is the decisive influence and authors’ confidant who has engineered some of the most important book deals in literary history. In Lord of Publishing, his memoir of life and work (and tennis), Lord reveals that he is also a consummate storyteller. Witty and wise, he brings to life what was arguably the greatest era of book publishing, and gives a brilliant insider’s scoop on the key figures of the book business—as well as some of the most remarkable books and authors of our time. /div