The project is based on "The Freedom Writer's Diaries: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them," written by high school teacher Erin Gruwell and her students.

In the inspiring book, Gruwell and her "unteachable, at-risk" students set out on a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising odyssey against ignorance, misunderstanding, and the negative forces in their own lives.

Beginning with their study of "The Diary of Anne Frank" and the Holocaust, the Freedom Writers seek out heroes in the wider world. As their writing projects develop, the students strive to become their own heroes.