"While her at-risk students are reading classics like The Diary of Anne Frank, a young teacher (Hilary Swank) asks them to keep journals about their troubled lives and apply history's lessons to break the cycle of violence and despair that threatens their futures. Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton and Patrick Dempsey co-star in this moving drama based on real-life California educator Erin Gruwell's unorthodox methods."