I am continuing to try and build and maintain a list of literature or fiction which is either set in a homeschool family or which uses homeschooled characters. I would appreciate suggestions.
I recently received and read  a kids books written by Scott Stroud called Baby Kong. I thought it was great. He has a second one called Grumpy Mr. Grady which received awards but I haven’t seen it. If you are looking for gifts, give him a look. He has a great publishing-website name too: HomesCoolKids.
 Here is the current master list of homeschool literature or fiction that I have found:
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan. Kids literature. Fine.The Applewhites book starts with a traditionally-school adolescent who is having alot of problems. He is sent as a foster kid to a rural homeschooling family full of some stereotypical characters. The cityboy comes of age through his experiences on the farm and with the family. For a review of the Applewhite .
Schooled by Gordan Korman. Kids literature. Bad. The homeschooled boy is a terrible representation of being a social misfit-homeschooler. The middle schoolers at public school are horridly behaving. The hippie homeschooled boy is basically tormented in school to the point where it would be impossible for the reader not to pity him. (excerpted from a review of Schooled by ChristineMM)
The Adventures of Lil’ Wolf, Twinkie, Toes, and Flower Girl in the Homeschool Forest by Jacqueline R. Campos. Editorial description from Amazon: Come and join in all the fun of the Wolf Family as they share their homeschooling adventures with you! It is never a dull day in the Homeschool Forest, with the gentle Flower Girl, lazy Toes, fun loving Lil’ Wolf, and the very clever Twinkie.
Does anybody have any first hand knowledge to review this literature?
I’ll check to see if they are on Amazon and if there are reviews there.
Homeschool Fiction Suggestions (from Worldcat):
Chicken Friend
by Nicola Morgan. 2005, 2004 1st US edition. Fiction: Elementary and junior high school. 148 pages.
Cambridge, Mass. Candlewick Press, ISBN: 0763627356. 9780763627355
When her parents decide to move their family to the English countryside, homeschool their children, and raise chickens, Becca tries to make friends with her new neighbors by hiding her diabetes and throwing a twelfth birthday party for herself.
Kandoo Kangaroo hops into homeschool
by Susan Ratner; Bryan Miller. 2000. Fiction : Primary school.
Green Forest, AR : Master Books, ISBN: 0890512906. 9780890512906
A mother kangaroo realizes that her six-year-old is ready to start home schooling.
Ida B and her plans to maximize fun, avoid disaster, and (possibly) save the world
by Katherine Hannigan. 2004 1st ed. Fiction : Elementary and junior high school 246 p.
New York, NY : Greenwillow Books,
In Wisconsin, fourth-grader Ida B spends happy hours being home-schooled and playing in her family’s apple orchard, until her mother begins treatment for breast cancer and her parents must sell part of the orchard and send her to public school.
Addie McCormick and the Computer Pirate
by Leanne Lucas. 1994. Fiction : Juvenile audience 138 pages. Eugene, Ore. : Harvest House.
While her school is being repaired following a tornado and she is attending a cooperative home school, Addie becomes involved in a mystery surrounding the schools computer software.
Mystery at Loch Ness
by Rebecca Price Janney. 1997. Fiction : Elementary and junior high school 135 p.
Sisters, Or. : Multnomah Fiction,
While visiting the virtual reality Loch Ness monster exhibit at a nauticus museum, a group of Christian home school students travels back in time to Scotland and to 1934.
Secret of the Lost Colony
by Rebecca Price Janney. 1997
Fiction : Elementary and junior high school 137 pages. Sisters, Or. : Multnomah Fiction.
Lindsey, Andrew, and Ben travel back in time with their home-school teacher to the English colony on Roanoke Island, where the people are struggling to survive an unfriendly environment and a problem of low supplies.
Search for Amelia Earhart
by Rebecca Price Janney. 1997. Fiction : Elementary and junior high school. 133 pages.
Sisters: Multnomah Publishers.
While talking about Amelia Earhart during their flight to Hawaii, a group of Christian home school students and their tutor travel back to the time of this famous aviator.
The Home School Detectives is a mystery series from InterVarsity Press, and is recommended for children ages 8-12. Follow the fast-paced adventures of Billy, Rebecca, Carlos, Josh, Emily and the rest of the gang as they overcome false leads and follow clues to the exciting conclusion.
Other suggestions?
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August 14th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
This is a great idea and a good list. All the books that I knew were on it. Plus, some I didn’t. I’ll look around to see if I can find more.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I was looking for a list like this… too bad there are so few picture books. From other lists, I also saw:
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
* Both of these follow the eccentric and fun Stargirl’s adventures. Great books – Spinelli is an award-winning, bestselling author. However, the homeschooling theme isn’t as strong in the first as she is in school at that point. Apparently Spinelli’s wife and several of his relatives were homeschooled so he builds on real experience.
Jess: American Girl Today by Mary Casanova
* A girl is homeschooled while her parents bring her along for their work abroad.
Alice, I Think by Susan Juby
* An eccentric and awkward homeschool girl goes to high school. I haven’t read it, but it looks very ill-informed about homeschooling.
January 1st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Congratulations on taking the initiative to create this list. I would definitely make a point of including this literature in my kids reading lists.
Plus, not incidentally, I imagine that these stories are written by homeschoolers. Lets support our own!
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:27 am
I thought your homeschooling parents might like to know about the ongoing essay contest on my Web site as well as about some of my books which were all written to help young people be the best they can be. Wishing all your homeschooling parents and students the very best!
June 26th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Sandra – Thanks – I’ll look into it and post it on my site too. Do you know about Time4Writing and see any way to work with them?
Sandra Nelson
November 30th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
The first two books in my Wright on Time series of children’s chapter books about an RV-living homeschooling family who travel the USA are now published.
Wright on Time: Arizona, Book 1 — finds the Wright family in an Arizona cave as they begin their RV journey
Wright on Time: Utah, Book 2 — finds the Wright family at a dinosaur dig in Utah as they continue their RV journey
http://www.WrightOnTimeBooks.com to find out more!
December 16th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Here is a great new series about a homeschooling family and their RV adventures. According to the author Lisa Cottrell Bentley, there will be one book for each state. Pretty cool stuff!
January 20th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
I bought the two published Wright on Time books and read them. A very good read. I do have some feedback. There is a mystery running through the first two books and it’s a little frustrating reading the whole book and finding that the core mystery is unsolved and in fact, does not advance much in the second book. Also, the books are heavy on geology and digs: I was hoping to learn more broadly about the states that I read about.
I’m looking forward to the third Wright on Time.
January 30th, 2010 at 8:30 am
There is also a picture book called “I Am Learning All The Time” by Raine Perry Fordyce, 2008. It’s about a five year old homeschooled boy (although it’s actually an animal family rather than a homeschool family, along the lines of the Berenstain Bears or some such) and it’s a really cute book that compares the main character to his public schooled friends without doing so in a negative way, just showing the differences and similarities in a positive way, and focuses on how he is learning all the time. Very cute for the preschool to first grade set, and the illustrations are great, too!