Stefan Merrill Block

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 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

A New York Times Bestselling Memoir and Read with Jenna Pick

Homeschooled

Larissa

And so what future will I ever have but to stay here forever, a middle-aged man in the passenger seat of his mother’s minivan?

Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid. Love, Nana

he asked, “Do you know why Jewish husbands die before their wives?” I swallowed and didn’t reply. “Because they want to!” Meir let out a single, lung-rattling guffaw and was dead before our next visit to Florida.

Mom wanted only to hide away with everything she held dear, and it was exactly that hiding, and that holding too close, that took everything from her. It was her worst fear that had made her worst fear come true.

Homeschooled quotes

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