Lee Roversi

Ohmygod!
That is one of my truly most favorite books of all time! And I read A LOT!
Both Sky and Nell read it within the past two years, and found it to be the
treasure that I raved about. It was originally recommended to Sky and Nell
by Grace Llewyln when they were at Not Back to School Camp one summer, but
I read it first. A very compelling and gripping story.
I'm thrilled to hear she has a new one! I'm getting it next trip into town!
Aloha, Lee
NORTH COUNTRY FARMS
~an eco-tourism destination~
P.O. Box 723
Kilauea, Kauai, Hawaii 96754
808-828-1513phone & voice mail
808-828-0805fax
www.northcountryfarms.com

the_clevengers

I don't know if this has been discussed here before, but I just
finished reading "Into the Forest" by Jean Hegland, and the novel is
written in first person by the narrator who is a 17 y.o. unschooler
living in the redwoods of northern California. It's pretty unusual
that you see unschooling described in a work of fiction, and I had no
idea that would be the case when I picked up the book.
So I just went to hear Jean Hegland read yesterday from her new
book "Windfalls" (which sounds even more amazing than her first) and
had to ask her if she homeschooled (she does).

Just wondering if anyone else had read this book and what they
thought of it. It was a very intriguing story about a post-
apocolyptic world, though I have to admit it got a bit slow in
places, it's beautifully written.

Blue Skies,
-Robin-

nellebelle

I read this recently with my book group HERS
http://webpages.charter.net/hers/
We meet monthly and read fiction and non-fiction. We all recomend books and
vote in the fall for the next year's books. We use a guide (see website)
for our discussion, but we use it as a starting point. We seek to share
views rather than agree on "correct" answers. We also enjoy food and
beverages related to the theme of the book, and just spending time together.

I really liked "Into the Forest". There were a couple of weak points, but
I've yet to read a *perfect* novel. It happens that a couple members of the
book group are eclectic/leaning toward unschooling, and one member respects
that choice but thinks parents should work to make schools better, rather
than remove their kids from it. It was interesting to hear their ideas
about the homeschooling/unschooling in the book.

I liked the way the two main characters found their paths as teens (though
of course that all changed by the disaster). The book did play into the
stereotype of the granola/isolate family from society homeschooler.

Mary Ellen

----- Original Message -----
> I don't know if this has been discussed here before, but I just
> finished reading "Into the Forest" by Jean Hegland, and the novel is
> written in first person by the narrator who is a 17 y.o. unschooler
> living in the redwoods of northern California.

the_clevengers

--- In [email protected], "nellebelle"
<nellebelle@c...> wrote:
> I really liked "Into the Forest". There were a couple of weak
points, but
> I've yet to read a *perfect* novel. It happens that a couple
members of the
> book group are eclectic/leaning toward unschooling, and one member
respects
> that choice but thinks parents should work to make schools better,
rather
> than remove their kids from it. It was interesting to hear their
ideas
> about the homeschooling/unschooling in the book.

That's cool. I'd like for some of my HS/Unschooling friends to read
it, I think it would be cool to discuss.


> I liked the way the two main characters found their paths as teens
(though
> of course that all changed by the disaster). The book did play
into the
> stereotype of the granola/isolate family from society homeschooler.

That's true, though in the case of this story I think it was pretty
realistic. I have a friend who lived in the same area of the Redwoods
and she said that she knew several families exactly like this -
relatively isolated unschoolers 30+ miles back in the woods. Not
unlikely, but still not the norm for homeschoolers, of course. I just
don't think it would've worked for her plot to have them less
isolated, and indeed, the author homeschooled her kids on 55 acres in
the redwood forest, so perhaps it's more than a bit autobiographical.

Also, as an author, I have a homeschooling character in my 2nd novel
and I have to say it's pretty tough to think about the way his
character presents vs. what his character really is. He's being
homeschooled because he's very gifted and his mom didn't think he was
well served in the school system. But he's not unschooled, and his
two siblings are in school. The mom's character is just not that of a
homeschooler. So although I would love to present unschooling in my
own fiction, the truth of it is that the characters are who they are,
not who I'd like them to be for my own reasons (presenting
unschooling to the world). It always feels weird to me to have my
characters have different experiences/make different choices than I
would make, but they are their own people, they're not me. So I can
see where the author just needed to have her characters be who they
were, for their sake and for the plot's sake.

Blue Skies,
-Robin-

nellebelle

Have you read "INTRUSIONS" by Ursula Hegi? (Also author of Stones From the
River) "As her "author" and her fictional heroine deal with their
intrusions into each other's lives, Hegi reveals much about the choices
women make, the ambiguities they face, and the often surprising ways reality
and fiction merge." Your comment about your characters being their own
people made me think of this book.

Mary Ellen

>>>>So although I would love to present unschooling in my
own fiction, the truth of it is that the characters are who they are,
not who I'd like them to be for my own reasons (presenting
unschooling to the world). It always feels weird to me to have my
characters have different experiences/make different choices than I
would make, but they are their own people, they're not me. So I can
see where the author just needed to have her characters be who they
were, for their sake and for the plot's sake.>>>

the_clevengers

--- In [email protected], "nellebelle"
<nellebelle@c...> wrote:
> Have you read "INTRUSIONS" by Ursula Hegi? (Also author of Stones
From the
> River) "As her "author" and her fictional heroine deal with their
> intrusions into each other's lives, Hegi reveals much about the
choices
> women make, the ambiguities they face, and the often surprising
ways reality
> and fiction merge." Your comment about your characters being their
own
> people made me think of this book.

No, I haven't read that. Thanks for the recommendation! I liked
Stones from the River even though it was very dark. This one sounds
good, and we're going to the library tomorrow, so I can add to my
pile :-).

Blue Skies,
-RObin-