{"product_id":"homeschooled-a-new-york-times-bestselling-memoir-and-read-with-jenna-pick-original","title":"Homeschooled: A New York Times Bestselling Memoir and Read with Jenna Pick (Original)","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\" \n\u003cem\u003eHomeschooled\u003c\/em\u003e unlocks the door to a private universe in a carpeted house in Plano, Texas, occupied for years by just middle-school-aged Stefan and his mother. Block is unflinching in both his honesty about his unhappiness and his profound love for the mother who didn't want to let him grow up. An important book for our current world, Block's brave story will help a lot of people feel less alone. An instant classic.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eEmma Straub, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThis Time Tomorrow\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Stefan Merrill Block's \n\u003cem\u003eHomeschooled \u003c\/em\u003eis an often touching, often disturbing, but always engrossing examination of a mother's love and the ever-shifting ways in which we view our own histories. Clearly told with the steadiness of a masterful writer, Block guides us through the complications of going from being a cloistered, homeschooled child to a parent himself, and how the complexities of his own upbringing shifted his world. Told in tight, confident prose, Block pulls readers into a childhood where education and control intertwine in unsettling ways, a confounding life oscillating between affection and oppression. This is an urgent, wrenching, fantastically told tale that is also filled with hope, much the same way a heart can both break and hold fast under the weight of a mother's touch.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eIsaac Fitzgerald, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eDirtbag, Massachusetts\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Stefan Merrill Block's \n\u003cem\u003eHomeschooled \u003c\/em\u003eis a love story and a domestic horror story, so insightfully written that you can't always separate its loving aspects from its horrifying ones. Its depiction of familial terrors, all inflicted in the name of devotion, driven by the all-too-human need for more devotion, and yet more, raised the hairs on the back of my neck. I didn't fully realize I'd read it in a single sitting until it became clear that dusk had fallen, and it was time to turn the lights on.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eMichael Cunningham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author \u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Block presents his boyhood without vanity or fear or illusions and paints his broken, delusional mother with nothing but love. Painful, funny, honest, heartbreaking. Nothing less than a sensational book.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eAndrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003cem\u003eLess\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eLess Is Lost\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Stefan Merrill Block has penned a coming-of-age saga for the ages. A smart, deep boy growing up in the suicide capital of Texas, Block was taken hostage by a needy mother under the guise of homeschooling. His escape into high school, college, and a literary life in New York is a moving page-turner, in turns hilarious and compassionate, furious and faithful. Anybody with a mama needs to read this. Bravo!\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eMary Karr, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Liars' Club\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Absorbing...[Block] writes with the phenomenological precision and narrative verve of a novelist...[and] succeeds at the near-impossible task of narrating from a child's perspective without sounding like an adult in miniature... He manages to capture his frightening, formidable mother in all her ambivalent glory... Her love for Block is scalding in its intensity, and she is tragic precisely because she is so eminently understandable.\" - \n\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Timely ... an impressive life ... as Block's story illustrates, allowing parents to isolate their kids at home with little accountability can be incredibly harmful.\"- \n\u003cstrong\u003eOlga Khazan, \u003cem\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Astonishing.\" - \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe New York Post\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"A revealing and deeply empathetic portrait of a complex relationship between mother and son.\" - \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eBookPage, \u003c\/em\u003estarred review\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Like Tara Westover's \n\u003cem\u003eEducated\u003c\/em\u003e, a compelling and horrifying account, leavened with flashes of rueful humor.\" - \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Novelist Block delivers a wrenching account of his traumatic homeschooling in suburban Texas... Lyrical, harrowing, and politically pointed, this is both a moving coming-of-age story and a clarion call for reform.\" - \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Through this poignant memoir that seamlessly blends humor, anger, and sadness, readers will appreciate Block's journey from homeschooling to adulthood.\" - \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eBooklist \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"A clear-eyed, emotionally precise voice... Block's memoir reflects a lifelong negotiation between independence and community, rendered with intelligence, humor, and hard-earned compassion.\"- \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eChronogram\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"One of the most beautiful books I've ever read.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eJenna Bush Hager\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Precisely rendered... the book sustains an almost unnerving intimacy as it relates the story of how Block's childhood and adolescence became 'a sometimes scary quicksand of time.'\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A compelling and fitfully harrowing child's-eye account of a mother's unravelling.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/em\u003eBESTSELLER! \u003c\/strong\u003e- \n\u003cstrong\u003eA READ WITH JENNA \u003cem\u003eTODAY\u003c\/em\u003e SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK \u003c\/strong\u003e - \n\u003cstrong\u003eA 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\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e* \n\u003cstrong\u003eA Top 10 Amazon Book of the Month Pick\u003c\/strong\u003e* \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e*A \u003cem\u003eWashington Post \u003c\/em\u003eBook to Read in January!*\u003cbr\u003e*A \u003cem\u003eLibrary Journal \u003c\/em\u003eBig\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eBook of the Week!*\u003cbr\u003e*A \u003cem\u003eBookRiot \u003c\/em\u003eBest New Nonfiction of January!*\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eStefan 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. \n\u003cbr\u003eIn this \"stunning debut memoir\" (Jenna Bush Hager, \n\u003cem\u003eThe Today Show\u003c\/em\u003e), Block beautifully reflects on his experiences in both traditional and at-home education systems, delving into: \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe inception of the homeschooling movement and its massive rise throughout America\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEarly memories of Block's mother, and a poignant look into their dysfunctional mother-son story\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBlock's reentry into the public school system, both jarring yet insightful, and the bullying he withstood\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHis emotional journey towards forgiveness, love, and hope as he becomes a parent himself\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003eAt once a novelistic portrait of mother and son, and an illuminating window into an overlooked corner of the American education system, \n\u003cem\u003eHomeschooled \u003c\/em\u003eis 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. \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eHomeschooled\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"One of the most beautiful books I've ever read.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eJenna Bush Hager\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Absorbing.\" \n\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"A revealing and deeply empathetic portrait of a complex relationship between mother and son.\" - \n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eBookPage, \u003c\/em\u003estarred review\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Astonishing.\" \n\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003cem\u003eThe New York Post\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\"Clearly told with the steadiness of a masterful writer.\"-- \n\u003cstrong\u003eIsaac Fitzgerald\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 10\/27\/2025 (EAN 9781335000989, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 11\/01\/2025 (EAN 9781335000989, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 12\/01\/2025 (EAN 9781335000989, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eMerrill Block, Stefan\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStefan Merrill Block grew up in Plano, Texas. His first book, \n\u003cem\u003eThe Story of Forgetting\u003c\/em\u003e, was an international bestseller and the winner of Best First Fiction at the Rome International Festival of Literature, The Ovid Prize from the Romanian Writer''s Union, the 2008 Merck Serono Literature Prize and the 2009 Fiction Award from The Writers' League of Texas. \n\u003cem\u003eThe Story of Forgetting\u003c\/em\u003e was also a finalist for the debut fiction awards from IndieBound, Salon du Livre and The Center for Fiction. Stefan''s novels have been translated into ten languages, and his stories and essays have appeared in \n\u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \n\u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker Page-Turner\u003c\/em\u003e, \n\u003cem\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/em\u003e, \n\u003cem\u003eNPR's Radiolab\u003c\/em\u003e, \n\u003cem\u003eGRANTA\u003c\/em\u003e, \n\u003cem\u003eThe Los Angeles Times\u003c\/em\u003e, and many other publications. He lives in upstate New York. \n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Hanover Square Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496032043286,"sku":"9781335000989","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781335000989.jpg?v=1783051162","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/homeschooled-a-new-york-times-bestselling-memoir-and-read-with-jenna-pick-original","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}