The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn

Those are the things that enhance or mess up people’s lives, not whether they know economic theory or can analyze literature. No classes on how to build an organization, raise money, navigate a bureaucracy, create a database, buy a house, love a child, spot a scam, ask the right questions, talk someone out of suicide, or figure out what’s important. When I returned to Oberlin that fall, I realized that there were no courses covering the things I most wanted to learn. But I ended up buying the book and was struck by Llewellyn’s argument that learning happens naturally and school mostly just gets in the way. I’m not a teenager, was my first thought, and I already have a real life, thanks anyway. “That one!” she said without hesitation, pointing to The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education by Grace Llewellyn. Then one summer day three years ago, I visited Reading Frenzy, a little bookstore in Portland, Oregon, and asked the owner what her favorite books were. So I stayed in high school and then headed off to Oberlin College, but my desire to pursue other avenues of education persisted.

And, in retrospect, I admit I was a little scared. Having spent all my life in schools where knowledge is measured out in tiny spoonfuls, I wasn’t resourceful enough to figure out they were wrong. I informed my parents that I intended to do the same, and they told me it was illegal. When I was 14, my hero was a rapper named KRS-One who dropped out of eighth grade and educated himself by reading and apprenticing in the music business. I highly recommend his excellent books Bomb The Suburbs and No More Prisons.

The new edition is loaded with updated resource sections, a thoughtful new introduction, and refreshed text throughout.This is essay is reprinted with permission from the author William Upski Wimsatt. Devoted fans of the Handbook include not only teenagers and college students but also thousands of parents, teachers, young adult librarians, school counselors, and college professors. It tackles everything from why to consider self-directed education, to communicating with reluctant parents, to “getting a social life without proms,” to designing a “tailor-made intellectual extravaganza” and getting into college, to finding great mentors, apprenticeships, and volunteer positions. The Teenage Liberation Handbook is (still) the only complete guide to unschooling written for youth. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or want to connect with the author. Thank you so very much for your interest in The Teenage Liberation Handbook!

The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn