Freedom Writers' Diaries

I finished reading the Freedom Writers' today. It was an amazing book.
The book took awhile to read, not because it was boring, but because it was so intense. Some days I could not read more than a few diary entries. I finished the last three "chapters" (end of their junior years and entire senior years) today in a few big chunks. I cried in a whole bunch of different places. When my mom got home from work, I told her how much she means to me. I tell her often that I love her, but I told her how lucky I was to have parents like my mom and dad. They never beat me, stole from me, and were always able to provide more than enough for me. I always new that my parents cared a lot about me and was always incredibly appreciative of what they gave me, but I think after reading the Freedom Diaries and doing my observations, I am realizing that I should not just be appreciative....
The stories of the 150 students of Erin Gruwell really opened a lot up to me. Especially when I watch one of my mentor's classes in particular. I know they are coming from welfare homes, abusive situations, and half of them don't even come because they have been arrested.
After reading the diaries, I am supposed to come up with a presentation about how arts integration could have helped these students. I have a good start that explains how arts integration is good for students that are hard to reach by other methods, and content-specific, how a arts-approach raises low scores significantly in history. I also know that Erin Gruwell has been criticized for having an unrealistic approach to her teaching, and I think arts integration (which she did do a few times with success) is another positive approach.
Anyway, I just can't get these stories..these voices...out of my head. I keep hearing them echoing and remembering every last detail of some of the stories.
If you have only seen the movie, go read the book. It is simply amazing.