Books about Themselves from Amazon.com

Straight from the front line of urban America, the inspiring story of one fiercely determined teacher and her remarkable students.


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. So she and her students, using the treasured books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo as their guides, undertook a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding. They learned to see the parallels in these books to their own lives, recording their thoughts and feelings in diaries and dubbing themselves the “Freedom Writers” in homage to the civil rights activists “The Freedom Riders.”

With funds raised by a “Read-a-thon for Tolerance,” they arranged for Miep Gies, the courageous Dutch woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California, where she declared that Erin Gruwell’s students were “the real heroes.” Their efforts have paid off spectacularly, both in terms of recognition—appearances on “Prime Time Live” and “All Things Considered,” coverage in People magazine, a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley—and educationally. All 150 Freedom Writers have graduated from high school and are now attending college.

With powerful entries from the students’ own diaries and a narrative text by Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary is an uplifting, unforgettable example of how hard work, courage, and the spirit of determination changed the lives of a teacher and her students.

The authors’ proceeds from this book will be donated to The Tolerance Education Foundation, an organization set up to pay for the Freedom Writers’ college tuition. Erin Gruwell is now a visiting professor at California State University, Long Beach, where some of her students are Freedom Writers.

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We all love to eat good, home-cooked meals, but with our busy lifestyles, who has the time or energy to make them anymore? Now, in The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook, authors Kitty Broihier and Kimberly Mayone offer you a way to cook hearty, delicious low-carb meals from scratch everyday—with very little effort or attention—that your whole family will enjoy. Broihier and Mayone have created over 120 delectable low-carb recipes that cover everything from breakfast to dessert and take full advantage of the timing and convenience of a slow cooker—all you need to do is add the ingredients to the pot, close the lid, and by mealtime, a hot and delicious low-carb meal will be ready and waiting. Recipes include:

Creamy Blueberry French Toast Casserole * Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll-Ups * Mixed Sausage with Fennel * French Onion Soup * Stuffed Bell Peppers * Thai Red Curry Chicken * Pork with Roasted Red Peppers, Herbs and Olives * Classic Country–Style BBQ Pork Ribs * Sesame Tuna with Bok Choy and Shitake Mushrooms * Onion and Spinach Dip * Dijon Ranch Chicken Salad * Faux Potato Salad * Peanut Butter Fudge Cake with Peanut Butter Drizzle

Complete with information on how to use and care for a slow cooker, how to convert your favorite low-carb recipes for slow cooking, and macronutrient counts for each recipe, The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook is guaranteed to put the fun back into cooking and make your life a whole lot easier..
Price: $8.62 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Free Lunch answers the great mystery of our time: How did our strong and growing economy give way to job uncertainty, debt, bankruptcy, and fear for millions of Americans? Acclaimed reporter David Cay Johnston reveals how government policies and spending have reached deep into the wallets of the many to benefit the top 1% of the wealthiest.

He shows exactly who has been getting free lunches from the government—from $100 million to Warren Buffett, to $1.3 billion to the owners of the Yankees and Mets. But of course there’s really no such thing as a free lunch. The taxpayer always picks up the bill. With his in depth reporting, vivid stories, and sharp analysis, Johnston reveals the forces that shape our everyday economic lives—and shows us how we can finally make things better..
Price: $9.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Hearty stews. Rib-sticking chilis. Tender pot roasts. The real secret is a long, slow simmer at a constant temperature, and no appliance does this better than the slow cooker. If your old slow cooker recipes disappointed you, throw them away! The Slow Cooker Ready and Waiting Cookbook is for people who love good food!

Rick Rodgers has adapted an eclectic array of American and ethnic dishes for the slow cooker. They're all here: fancy fare (Farmer's Market Lobster and Corn Chowder, Sweet and Sour Brisket, Erna's Sauerbraten), everyday favorites (Ground Beef Chili with Cornmeal Dumplings and Herbed Tomato Sauce with Parmesan Meatballs), side dishes (Potatoes Euphoria, Smothered Green Beans, Sugarbush Beans) -- even desserts (Strawberry-Strawberry Cheesecake, Bourbon Bread Pudding, and Lemon-Raspberry Pudding Cake). Ideal for entertaining, the slow cooker keeps crowd-pleasing dips and holiday punches warm from the beginning of the party to when the last guest leaves.

A special section explains how to choose the right-size slow cooker for your needs, how to adapt a favorite recipe, and what can (and can't) be prepared in a slow cooker.

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Price: $8.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Since 1975, this book has been the bible of scrupulous landlords and landladies It's a comprehensive and readable reference on how to attract and keep good tenants and make good landlording decisions..
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Shocked by the teenage violence she witnessed during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, Erin Gruwell became a teacher at a high school rampant with hostility and racial intolerance. For many of these students–whose ranks included substance abusers, gang members, the homeless, and victims of abuse–Gruwell was the first person to treat them with dignity, to believe in their potential and help them see it themselves. Soon, their loyalty towards their teacher and burning enthusiasm to help end violence and intolerance became a force of its own. Inspired by reading The Diary of Anne Frank and meeting Zlata Filipovic (the eleven-year old girl who wrote of her life in Sarajevo during the civil war), the students began a joint diary of their inner-city upbringings. Told through anonymous entries to protect their identities and allow for complete candor, The Freedom Writers Diary is filled with astounding vignettes from 150 students who, like civil rights activist Rosa Parks and the Freedom Riders, heard society tell them where to go–and refused to listen.





Proceeds from this book benefit the Freedom Writers Foundation, an organization set up to provide scholarships for underprivieged youth and to train teachers

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Price: $7.57 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Raising Children Who Think for Themselves, by Elisa Medhus, M.D., is the proud recipient of three highly prestigious awards: The 2002 Parent's Choice Award, The NAPPA Gold Award (National Parenting Publications Association,) and the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval..
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