"The Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop has opened
up the minds and hearts of a lot of these guys. From my first visit
with them, just listening to them talk and reading some of their feelings
and thoughts on paper, I was impressed."
—Etan Thomas, Author of More than An Athlete, and Washington
Wizards player
Book List
Drama City, by George Pelecanos
Season of Life, by Jeffrey Marx
Way Past Cool, by Jess Mowry
Monster: Autobiography of An L.A. Gang Member, by Sanyika Shakur
Boy Kills Man, by Matt Whyman
Rock This! by Chris Rock
Always Running, by Luis J. Rodriguez
Upstate, by Kalisha Buckhanon
Taste of the Night, by R.L. Stine
Black and White, by Paul Volponi
Dark, by Kenji Jasper
Slam, by Walter Dean Myers
The Contender, by Robert Lipsyte
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, by JK Rowling
Dakota Grand, by Kenji Jasper
Big City Cool: Short Stories About Urban Youth, edited by M. Jerry
Weiss and Helen S. Weiss
Makes Me Wanna Holler, by Nathan McCall
Down These Mean Streets, by Piri Thomas
Pay It Forward, by Catherine Hyde
Parrot in the Oven, Mi Vida by Victor Martine
The Green Mile, by Stephen King
The Color of Water, by James McBride
Paint Me Like I Am, by WritersCorps
The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson
A Hip Hop Story, by Heru Ptah
The Coldest Winter Ever, by Sister Souljah
Bronx Masquerade, by Nikki Grimes
City of One, by Writerscorps
Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
Speak, by Laurie Halse
Push, by Sapphire
Tears of the Tiger, by Sharon Draper
Seeking Salamanca Mitchell, by Kenji Jasper
The Brave, by Robert Lipsyte
Finding Fish, by Antwone Fisher
Rose that Grew From the Concrete, by Tupac Shakur
Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley
My Bloody Life, by Reymundo Sanchez
Forged by Fire, by Sharon Draper
Once a King, Always a King, by Reymundo Sanchez
The Pact, by Dr. Sampson Davis, et. al.
Hoop Dreams, by Ben Joravsky
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
Manchild in the Promised Land, by Claude Brown
Battle of Jericho, by Sharon Draper
Street Life, by Jihad
More Than an Athlete, by Etan Thomas
Little Scarlet, by Walter Mosley
The Afterlife, by Gary Soto
Wolf Rider, by Avi
Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
Fearless Jones, by Walter Mosley
Maybe You Never Cry Again, by Bernie Mac
Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul, by Jack Canfield
Who Am I Without Him? by Sharon Flake
Begging for Change, by Sharon Flake
Six Easy Pieces, by Walter Mosley
They Broke the Law: You Be the Judge, by Thomas A. Jacobs, JD
The Rag and Bone Shop, by Robert Cormier
Concrete Candy, by Apollo
Money Hungry, by Sharon Flake
Glory Road, by Don Haskins
DC Noir, Edited by George Pelecanos
Snitch, by Alison Van Diepen
Ball Don't Lie, by Matt de la Pena
Standing at the Scratch Line, by Guy Johnson
Raiders Night, by Robert Lipsyte
American Gangster, by Max Allan Collins
Tyrell, by Coe Booth
Ballad of a Ghetto Poet, by A.J. White
Durango Street, by Frank Bonham
Rooftop, by Paul Volponi
Bang! by Sharon Flake
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
Snow, by Kenji Jasper
Life in Prison, by Tookie Williams
Never Go Home Again, by Shannon Holmes
Convicted in the Womb, by Carl Upchurch
Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
Boot Camp, by Todd Strasser
The Wave, by Todd Strasser
Freedom Writers Diary, by Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers
Reputations Fade Away, by DaWayne Williams
Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry
The Turnaround by George Pelecano
Brothers in Arms by Paul Langan and Ben Alirez
No Way Out, by Peggy Kern
The Fallen, by Paul Langan
Inside the Crips, by Colton Simpson
Midnight, by Sister Souljah