A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! -
A READ WITH JENNA TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK -
A heartbreaking, empowering, often hilarious debut memoir about a mother's all-consuming love, a son's perilous quest to discover the world beyond the front door and the unregulated homeschool system that impacts millions like him*A BookRiot Best Book of the Year*
*A BookPage Memoir of the Year**
A Top 10 Amazon Book of the Month Pick*
*A Washington Post Book to Read in January!*
*A Library Journal Big Book of the Week!*
*A BookRiot Best New Nonfiction of January!*Stefan Merrill Block was nine when his mother pulled him from school, certain that his teachers were "stifling his creativity." Hungry for more time with her boy who was growing up too quickly, she began to instruct Stefan in the family's living room. Beyond his formal lessons in math, however, Stefan was largely left to his own devices and his mother's erratic whims, such as her project to recapture her twelve-year-old son's early years by bleaching his hair and putting him on a crawling regimen.
In this "stunning debut memoir" (Jenna Bush Hager,
The Today Show), Block beautifully reflects on his experiences in both traditional and at-home education systems, delving into:
- The inception of the homeschooling movement and its massive rise throughout America
- Early memories of Block's mother, and a poignant look into their dysfunctional mother-son story
- Block's reentry into the public school system, both jarring yet insightful, and the bullying he withstood
- His emotional journey towards forgiveness, love, and hope as he becomes a parent himself
At once a novelistic portrait of mother and son, and an illuminating window into an overlooked corner of the American education system,
Homeschooled is a moving, funny and ultimately inspiring story of a son's battle for a life of his own choosing, and the wages of a mother's insatiable love.
Praise for Homeschooled"One of the most beautiful books I've ever read."--
Jenna Bush Hager"Absorbing."
--Washington Post"A revealing and deeply empathetic portrait of a complex relationship between mother and son." -
BookPage, starred review"Astonishing."
--The New York Post"Clearly told with the steadiness of a masterful writer."--
Isaac Fitzgerald
