Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story.

Crowe, who was 22 years old at the time, and had already written numerous articles for Rolling Stone (as documented in his movie Almost Famous), got the Principal of Clairmont High School in San Diego to agree to let him be a student for a year to research a book he was working. The book became the inspiration for the movie, which Crowe collaborated on. Given Crowe's collaboration, I assume it was pretty factual.

Unfortunately, you can't get the book for under $300 these days (though pirated pdf versions can be found online) But here is an excerpt. Its pretty great. The movie really seems to track the writing in the book, and Crowe is such a great writer.