Azalea, Unschooled

In Pennsylvania, it was a clothing boutique for pets. Then a breakfast buffet in North Carolina. Then an apple orchard in Connecticut. Now, Azalea's dad says he's going to drive a tour bus in Portland, Maine. Through all those moves, Azalea and her older sister were homeschooled by their mom. But when they move to Portland, Azalea's mom asks them to try unschooling—a method of learning that gives children more freedom to direct their own education. As the sisters struggle to find a delicate new balance, their world is rocked when someone sabotages Dad's tour bus. Azalea decides it is up to her to find the culprit and hold her family together. In her fresh and funny debut middlereader novel, Liza Kleinman deftly explores the new unschooling movement as well as the challenges of moving to a new home, making friends, and finding room for differences within a family.