Hanna, Homeschooler
by: Suki Wessling, illustrated by Megan Trever Ryan
January 1, 2016, Chatoyant
134 pages
reviewed by: Valerie Estelle Frankel
Author Suki Wessling explains in her afterward that she wrote her children’s book Hanna, Homeschooler after her daughter complained that all chapter books follow children going to school. Indeed, this novel explores the life of its homeschooling heroine (who’s in the equivalent of first grade but has some friends in kindergarten). They cook (with math lessons about how to measure different sizes to make 3/4 of a cup of flour) and make charts about the life cycle.
However, Hanna frets that the other children have a first day of school, a last day of school, a set schedule and, in fact, worksheets and homework. Her mother carefully listens to these requests and finds her projects that suit her interests. As such, the book acknowledges children’s concerns about homeschooling and also models reasonable responses. As Mom explains to Gram, “So you see, it starts with a question, then it becomes a field trip, which creates an interest, which leads to a project, which depends on art, science, spelling, and math to be completed.” Mom is learning to say “Why not” to Hanna’s suggestions for projects instead of no, and find ways to manage her daughter’s concerns. At last, they come up with their own way to make a meaningful graduation ceremony as Hanna moves on to her next stage.
As far as conflict, there’s tension from Gram, who isn’t sure she’s comfortable with Hanna’s unschooling. There are also still mean kids and bullying, even without being in school. In fact, Hanna reveals that she’s been hanging out with mean girls because, as she puts it, “I like to find out what school’s like.” She feels a lot of judgment from everybody who doesn’t homeschool. However, she does have fun in the history club where all the kids are becoming knights in shining armor. Later, she and her dad visit a nursing home and sing for the residents there.
Casually mixed into the story are moments of Jewish life, as Hanna and her mother make challah most Fridays now that they live with Hanna’s grandmother. They all light candles and say the prayers together. When December comes, Hanna invites the whole history club to her house for doughnuts and singing, as they make menorahs out of clay. There’s gentle pro-diversity imagery, as they wish everyone “happy holidays” and Gram says, “This is a time of year when everyone celebrates light and love no matter what sort of church they go to.”
The family doesn’t have much money for commercial toys or other things many children take for granted, but they still lead a happy life together. Using a cassette player in this 2016 book does feel a little dated. Besides this, there aren’t many references to technology. It’s a small-town story of a family who’s used to seasonal travel. The hand-drawn black and white pictures are fun and enticing, as are the handwritten-style chapter headers. It’s a charming book following a nontraditional lifestyle and celebrating the people in it.
Valerie Estelle Frankel is the author of over 100 books on pop culture, including Hunting for Meaning in The Mandalorian; The Villain’s Journey and Adapting Bridgerton. Her Chelm for the Holidays (2019) was a PJ Library book, and now she’s the editor of Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy, publishing an academic series for Bloomsbury/Lexington Press. Come explore her research at vefrankel.com.