Homeschooled: A Memoir

by Stefan Merrill Block

A heartbreaking and empowering 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

Stefan Merrill Block was nine when his mother pulled him from school, certain that his teachers were “stifling his creativity.” With no background in education and no formal training, 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. She forced him to bleach his hair and to crawl like a baby in a strange and regressive attempt to recapture his early years.

Long before homeschooling would become a massive nationwide movement, at a time when it had just become legal in his home state of Texas, Stefan vanished into that unseen space and into his mother’s increasingly eccentric theories and projects. But when, after five years away from the outside world, Stefan reentered the public school system in Plano as a freshman, he was in for a jarring awakening.

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 all-consuming love.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, Biography, Education, Coming Of Age

Audible Audio

Published January 6, 2026

About the author

Stefan grew up in Plano, Texas. His first book, The Story of Forgetting, 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. The Story of Forgetting was also a finalist for the debut fiction awards from IndieBound, Salon du Livre and The Center for Fiction. Following the publication of his second novel, The Storm at the Door, Stefan was awarded The University of Texas Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, as well as residencies at The Santa Maddalena Foundation and Castello Malaspina di Fosdinovo in Italy. Stefan's novels have been translated into ten languages, and his stories and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker Page-Turner, The Guardian, NPR’s Radiolab, GRANTA, The Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. Stefan's third novel, Oliver Loving, is forthcoming from Macmillan/Flatiron Books. He lives in Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on the description of this book, I was expecting a personal account of homeschooling, for better and worse. Instead, this memoir about the author’s experience of being “homeschooled” (there were very few actual lessons) by his narcissistic mother, who simply couldn’t cope with being alone and having her youngest child grow up, was devastating. Her emotional abuse and manipulation hit me very hard, yet the author presents her with respect and even affection. Despite my personal reaction to the content, this is a powerful and revealing memoir that provides much to think about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read an ARC of this title.

[Erica Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE a messy, intimate family memoir and this one delivered. A mother's love turned narcissistic and dangerous, an introspective, bookish son, struggling to spread his wings...so good.

[Sara Mion · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating memoir about growing up with a very controlling and manipulative mother.

While homeschooling was a large part of his need for control that ultimately had a great impact on the authors life, I was hoping for more extrapolation on how homeschooling as a whole gives these sorts of parents a cover. While homeschooling in and of itself isn’t always a bad thing, or doesn’t mean parents will ultimately neglect and abuse their children in this way, there is often some confusion in the community where abusive families can hide, while also sharing their tips and tricks with other families who wouldn’t otherwise seek this sort of distrust of their larger community or “others”.

As someone who was homeschooled myself (in what for me was a very positive experience that prepared me for college and beyond, different from the author), I cringed as I heard the names of the popular champions of homeschooling from the 90s. Along with the common phrases and excuses for needing to abandon the public school system and those supportive of it. That mindset is STRONG among many homeschooling communities and easily leads to an even more controlling environment under the guise of more “freedom”.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Angela Ruh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel a bit like the people who give an Amazon product two stars because it was damaged in shipping. It really isn’t fair. It’s not the author’s story or how he told it that is causing me to give it two stars, but rather the name he chose to give his book. This book is in a similar vein as Educated or I’m Glad My Mom Died. A story of a life filled with codependency, mental health issues, familial dysfunction, and yes, a son who was forcibly “homeschooled”. But to call what the author’s mother did “homeschooling” does a disservice to all the parents who choose to give their child an education at home, and prepare them for life.

I feel badly for the issues in the author’s family, and the trap that his own mother put him in. I hope he has gotten some professional therapy to work through it all.

[Allyce | · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars - honestly, I was a bit let down by this book. As a parent who is debating homeschooling my 2026 kindergartener, I was hoping to have a lot of insight into homeschooling from the child's perspective. Homeschooled is more focused on the author's experiences with a "toxic mom" (she clearly was dealing with major mental health issues) and less on homeschooling. The last 40 pages are very strong and emotional, however, I didn't find what I was looking for in this book.

Homeschooled would be a good read for those who enjoyed I'm Glad My Mom Died and Hillbilly Elegy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the advanced copy. Homeschooled hits shelves on January 6, 2026.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. This book is marketed as a book about one man's negative experiences as a homeschooler, which then asks larger questions about homeschool regulation and parent's/children's rights. It is sort of about that but it also isn't. The homeschooling Block writes about is really just a symptom of a larger problem, namely his mother's declining mental health and alcoholism as part of overall family dysfunction. The book morphs into a book about Plano, TX, at one point in the recent past, being labeled the suicide capital of America with the author knowing several students and a teacher who commit suicide. So, it ends up reading like homeschooling as a symptom of mental health problems rather than homeschooling as it's own practice. I'm absolutely not saying this right or making much sense. If you read this as a memoir of one man's experiences, then great. However, the marketing as a broader case study into homeschooling isn't accurate. I think this is worth reading, although the author brings up several important life points that get dropped but never get picked back up, but I'm not sure it is worth reading for the reasons it's being presented as worth reading.

[Merryweather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir pulls you in quickly and keep you there. The author, Stefan Merrill Block, is not the first to speak out about the damage homeschooling caused him, and he won't be the last. In fact, I suspect we will continue to see an increase in stories of this type as a new wave of homeschoolers enter adulthood. However, this memoir is particularly special. Block recounts his childhood openly and honestly, with a hindsight that truly illuminates some of the real horrific experiences he had as a preteen living in isolation. However, he narrates this without judgment. He doesn't try to pass his mom off as "bad" or "good". He simply recounts his
childhood, and hers, with a voice that is
compelling and sympathetic. This book is a great starting point for the important conversations that need to be had regarding homeschooling.

[Katy O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

(free review copy) Block expertly demonstrates that you can write about trauma, without the trauma being outwardly horrific. Children can be traumatized without being sexually abused, without their being a horrific ending. This memoir reads like fiction, and I simply couldn’t put it down.

As an educator and parent, homeschooling has always been of great interest and concern to me, and Block is finally opening up about how painful and lonely this experience was for him, and how our the United States lack of oversight of this practice puts children in potentially great danger of abuse and lack of schooling. And the history and LOBBYING behind homeschooling!

If you love memoirs that combine personal experience with social impact, definitely add this to your list.

Source: free review copy via Edelweiss

[Paula W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir is the January 2026 “Read with Jenna” choice for her book club. She has a fairly good track record for her choices that match my reading tastes, and I needed to read this ARC anyway, so I gave it a shot. That being said, memoirs aren’t usually part of my reading tastes.

Homeschooled, however, hooked me right in from the beginning. Before homeschooling was a thing, Stefan’s emotionally manipulative mother removed him from the structure of school to embark on unregulated homeschooling with no curriculum and questionable methods in order to keep him close and prevent him from growing up (and perhaps away). During the course of the book, we sympathize with his confusion over the love for his mother and his need to have other things in his life, and later his struggle to integrate into a society that left him behind in many ways. It is an honest, disturbing, and somehow humorous look into the author’s journey to find himself.

Thanks to Hanover Square Press/Harper Collins, Stefan Merrill Block (author), and Edelweiss for providing an advance digital review copy of Homeschooled: A Memoir. Their generosity did not influence my review in any way.

[Chanelle Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to DNF @ 30%. It just felt like the author was rambling. It’s really not even about being homeschooled. It’s about his narcissistic, controlling mother denying him education because of her fringe beliefs despite the fact his sibling goes to regular school.

[Nia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Homeschooled by Stefan Merrill Block is a misleading title. It should have been called “Toxic Mom.”

Readers are subjected to a claustrophobic account of emotional manipulation and isolation under the guise of "homeschooling," where the narcissistic mother emerges as the toxic centerpiece - volatile, controlling, and suffocating in her need to keep her son from growing or connecting with the outside world.

Her erratic demands like forcing him to bleach his hair or crawl like a baby, and the complete lack of structured education reveal homeschooling not as a thoughtful alternative but as a tool for her own psychological grip, leaving her son abandoned to her unraveling presence with no peers, no oversight, and no real learning.

The memoir's focus on this dysfunctional dynamic makes the title feel like false advertising, turning what could have been a discussion of unregulated homeschooling into an exhausting portrait of maternal toxicity. Disappointing!

[Arielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was initially put off by that horrid cover art, but you know the saying—so I read it all over the snowy holiday weekend. The book is a mixed bag. It's not truly about homeschooling. It's more of an autobiography of a boy's relationship with a narcissistic mother.

The first half had me hooked. It's a visceral account of what it's like to be 'unschooled' by a lunatic and learn essentially nothing for five years while enduring terrible psychological and physical abuse. The mother was a real piece of work: the school day was her bringing her son on grocery store and shopping errands so she wouldn't have to be alone, then he'd color a picture and watch TV and that was it. She drove him to his former school and made him scream insults at his old classmates to further alienate him. I could feel the boy's loneliness. I know what it's like (I was a product of homeschooling too. It's a bit like being kidnapped, but because it's your own mother, no one is coming to rescue you). 

​The second half starts strong, detailing his agonizing transition into high school. There are some wild moments, like his mother forcing him to bring a typewriter and a filing cabinet (with "where's the beef" inexplicably written on it) to his first day. But then, the mother gets sick, and the narrative shifts into a long, overly sentimental account of her illness. Ugh.

It was frustrating to read this sudden reversal in tone. After pages and pages of her insanity and abuse, the author tries to humanize her in a way that was forced. It made me think of the much superior I'm Glad My Mom Died, which never pressured the reader to sympathize with an abuser.

It read like the author hadn't fully processed his trauma; the account of her illness seems more like an apology for having written about her abuse in the first place. I felt more pity for the author's lingering enmeshment than I did for the mother, especially given her refusal to seek medical care for ten years. 

Sometimes, even after the kidnapping ends, the captive is still left making excuses. "There was love! It was fun!" It's just...sad.

[Maureen Grigsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author makes a very good case for more oversight of “homeschooling” as it is almost entirely unregulated and can be very damaging to the future prospects of these children.

[Emily Tomchek · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down for chastising all of the homeschool community. I would have rated this book more favorably if it had been more bipartisan on the issue of homeschooling and focused on the tendencies of his mother. This is a story of a mother’s love mixed with her mental illness and growing obsession with her child, while family members stood by and allowed it. It blames homeschools legality as the culprit for the authors suffering, when in fact the mothers behavior stretched into public school environment as well. This books tries to be a call-to-action for readers to protest the existence of homeschooling, which doesn’t sit well with me. Overall it is well written and moving, but not captivating.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25-4.5 stars. A Read with Jenna - Jan. ‘26 pick. Kudos to SMB for writing this incredible debut. This exceptional memoir read just like a fiction novel growing up under the thumb of a dominant-clingy mother, yet the author takes it all in stride. He finagles his way into public high school and seeks out peers to help the loneliness from years of no playmates and homeschooling. This didn’t feel like a ‘woe is me’ telling, but instead (with his being the audio narrator) you can listen as he puts his life out there in a matter-of-factly tone. You can’t help but feel heavy-hearted for any child suffering from a parent’s instability.. and thankfully he managed to overcome the trauma even as it continued into adulthood, not easy by any means. Wanting independence and in keeping concern for his mother’s feelings he set boundaries. I spent one afternoon reading/listening to this and am so glad I requested it. Really interesting. Do recommend. 🎧Pub. 1/6/26

I received an ARC from HarperCollins via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be clear, this is less of a memoir about homeschooling and more of a book about a broken woman who fights to keep her son close to her from his childhood into adulthood. I was moved by the author's loving and compassionate portrayal of his mother while recounting the suffering she caused him. As someone who was homeschooled, there were several relatable moments that made me consider how easily this education system—or I guess the parents—can fail a child.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to feel about HOMESCHOOLED, a memoir about living with a mother’s unstable, controlling behavior.

As a former high school teacher, I have complicated feelings about homeschooling. Some students were like the author: socially stunted and academically poor. I felt frustrated and sad for these kids who just wanted to be accepted and have a chance to learn.

On the other hand, I have seen students achieve great success in a home learning environment. They are academically rich, confident kids who haven’t been smothered OR neglected.

I think the author would agree: there are no perfect learning environments. We can all tell harrowing stories about public, private, or homeschool education.

In HOMESCHOOLED, the author is putting a spotlight on a broken woman, not necessarily a broken system.

Every educational setting has its shadows. We have a responsibility to protect the children hiding there and turn on the lights.

[Britta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in this book as an educator and was not disappointed! It’s worth it for the last 40 pages alone. There were definitely a couple spots I laughed out loud, and I think the strength of this book is with the push-pull in the relationship with his mother. I feel like more could have been said about the broader context of homeschooling. Maybe a few spots, like his relationship with his dad, could have been expanded on, but perhaps the memoir wouldn’t have been as nimble as it is if he had. Anyway, I do recommend this book and would give it 3.5/5.

[Alicia Gursky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 🌟

This was interesting. I think there are a lot of pros to homeschooling and the basis of this book really should have focused more on the parent relationship over the actuality of homeschooling. I know many who homeschool that have successful children both academically and socially. What the mother did at times was border line abuse, and stunted her son’s future for her own personal benefit. It’s a tried and true saying that we are parents not your friends and his mother wasn’t a parent she was trying to be his friend or rather give a friend to herself. His mother was very clearly struggling with mental health issues and no one not even the father who worked in mental health stepped in. I do think this book sheds light on how homeschool children can be abused for long periods of time without anyone checking on their well being or having present mandatory reporters in their child’s life. It seemed no one advocated for him. I feel a lot was said, but there was and is a lot more to unpack here.

A good cross between the memoirs Educated and Glad my mother is dead if those peaked your interest add this to your TBR.


TW: suicide

[Emily Spilman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe one of the best memoirs I’ve read.

Is it about homeschooling? Not really. It’s a part of it. But this is a dysfunctional family memoir, first and foremost.

Stefan’s story is heavy. From his childhood perspective, you can feel the weight of his mother’s trauma that he carries for her — and his adult perspective reflects on it with compassion and empathy.

It’s a tough read. Stefan never uses the words abuse, manipulation, or narcissism, which in a way makes his experience so much more authentic and honest. So often, these messy memoirs have a poignant lesson at the end, a kind of textbook explanation for what happened. Stefan’s story was heartbreaking to read as a parent; his mother’s story was also heartbreaking. Isn’t that how life works?

Ultimately, it’s a story about love and all of its flaws.

[Natalie Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Seems like the author still has years worth of therapy to unpack all the damage his mother has done to him. Parenting is serious business, and she made him the apex of her happiness. I do agree that homeschooling should have more regulation. I doubt the homeschooling crowd will go for this though…..it was interesting to learn about the fundamentalist Christians role in getting homeschooling legalized in TX. TX remains one of the easiest places to homeschool with no regulations whatsoever. The author took me down memory lane since we are the same age and I group up in a neighboring suburb. I don’t remember being affected by the large number of suicides but I definitely remember the undercover cops and busting up the heroin ring.

[Jessica_loves_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author writes his memoir about being homeschooled in Plano, Texas. As much as this book made me cringe and gasp, in the end I was riveted. By the anecdotes the author shares about his mom and the things she does to keep her son close. Her acts as will shock you . The moms out there may recognize a glimmer of that feeling where we don’t want to let our children go, but we check our maternal longings for the societal norms this mom ignores. I found this story so intriguing and well paced. How he ended up normal is the biggest surprise.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first heard about this book I was hoping for a great story about homeschooling, as I homeschooled my three children for eleven years and it was such a great experience for our family. However the author's story was not at all like our family's experience. He had a co-dependent mother who did NOT educate him or his brother and his father sounded almost non-existent. I am quite sure he needs to work out more things in his life. It truly makes me sad he had this experience.

I do hope people who don't know what homeschooling really is, do not base their opinions on his story! I educated my children to be life-long learners. All are college educated, two with masters, and all have successful careers, serve in their communities, and are happy and well-adjusted. Our entire family are all readers, constantly seeking to be curious and learn more, no matter how old we get.

[Babbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good memoir. But here’s the thing - this isn’t really about homeschooling. I mean, it mentions the loose laws in certain states, the lack of accountability. Especially in the case of the author. However, this memoir is mostly about a mother who has a possible undiagnosed mental illness. It’s more sad than funny. Worth reading and dysfunctional, indeed.

[Linnea · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars ⭐️ A heartfelt, moving, painfully accurate memoir of growing up under a parent with mental illness and the all-consuming ripple effect of their dis-ease. These relationships are so very complicated. If you liked ‘I’m glad my mom died’ you will like this!

[Karissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more of a rant than a review, but I've said it before, and I will keep saying it until I am blue in the face: homeschooling should only be allowed in the most extreme cases, and even then there should be actual oversight to ensure that kids are safe and cared for. Any time a kid is pulled from school it should trigger automatic red flags.

Yes, I am sure that not ALL homeschool situations are abusive and/or outright neglectful, but even in the most perfect cases, there's so much that kids miss out on and will they likely feel othered when they go out in the world and struggle to fit in.

The unfortunate truth is that a lot of kids fall through the cracks, they are abused, they suffer from educational neglect and neglect in general, and struggle with fitting in with their peers. They then either get sucked into whatever cult-like environment they were raised in where the cycle will continue, or they force their way out into the world and struggle to figure out what it means to be a functioning member of society.

Stefan managed to force his way back into school when he started highschool, but the damage was already done. He was forever labeled the homeschool kid and the things is peers discussed forever went over his head, but he persisted, and kept moving forward and eventually made it out on his own. Not all kids are lucky enough to do this.

These stories are so important to read and take seriously because I can't even imagine how many kids aren't able to make it out and tell theirs.

Source: was homeschooled from 5th grade on, my education was as lacking as Stefan's. I didn't make my way back to school, but I did get really good at faking it until I made it.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I think I found this interesting bc I work in education. It wasn't just a story about being homeschooled- it was lots of family dynamics and finding your place in the world.

[Stacy40pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

Homeschooled by Stefan Merrill Block. Thanks to @hanoversquare for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stefan was nine when his mother pulled him from school saying it was stunting his creativity. Quickly his homeschool becomes eccentric theories and projects, or Stefan is mostly left to his own devices.

This was a fascinating memoir as we get a look into the home of a clever child, and a mother with some serious mental health and control issues. Stefan’s story shows how impactful homeschooling can be, especially in the 90’s when there was a huge push for that freedom. While Stefan’s mother believed in unschooling to hone his creativity, he fell massively behind not only academically but socially as well. The toxic environment at home just gets worse as the story is told.

“He can’t see if what he’s stepping into is a kind of gift or the worst place of all, even as he walks through the door.”

Read this if you like:
-Dysfunctional family memoirs
-Educational memoirs
-Mother and son relationship stories

Homeschooled comes out 1/6.

[Mackenzie Paul-Majors · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Francesca Mosley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I too think the title is misleading. Yes, he was homeschooled. However, it is mainly a memoir that focuses on his relationship with his mother, and she homeschools him at one point for a few years. It was ok.