After spending an inspiring summer at an environmental camp, Kaity walks out in the middle of the first day of eighth grade, determined to become a homeschooler to escape the mindnumbing drudgery of the classroom. Her parents reluctantly agree to a trial period, then work way too hard to make her homeschooling just like school. Kaity dreams of unschooling—choosing her own learning experiences in a self-designed curriculum. Anxious to prove that her disappointing home-education experience is wonderful, she boasts to a former classmate that she is now a member of the very innovative Homeschool Liberation League. But the group doesn’t exist, at least until she meets fellow homeschooler (and potential love interest) Milo, a musical prodigy heavily controlled by his stage-parent father. Suspense thickens a bit as Kaity deals with her own educational issues, the lies she told but must now confront and Milo’s growing frustration. Many of this likable girl’s experiences ring true as she explores the boundaries of education and friendship in a story that is ultimately entertaining enough but not compelling. (Fiction. 10-14)
