“Homeschooled,” the first Read With Jenna pick of 2026, is the story of one young man's years being homeschool.
In the book, author Stefan Merrill Block looks back on the years his mother, believing him to be a creative genius, pulled him out of the public school system. Instead of attending class, he seemed to idly drift, becoming more isolated. Those days shaped him and scarred him and eventually led to the memoir he wrote.
“What I’m discovering from this process of telling the truth and excavating this history is I often felt so powerless in the situation but the story of that time makes me capable of so much,” Block told TODAY.com. “There’s power to be found in what feels powerless.”
Below, Block recommends other books about mothers and children, as well as novels inspired by real life.
Mary Karr is often credited with reviving the memoir genre. In "The Liars' Club," Karr goes back to her childhood in Texas — as does Block. Her book is populated by characters so memorable you'll think they're fiction. It's all the more amazing to learn they are not.
Author Kiese Laymon's wrenching memoir about being in a "heavy" body earned praise when it was released in 2018. Written as a letter to his mother, the memoir shows how the roots of our adult selves often trace back to a child who's still there, and still hurting.
Author Wallace Stegner mined his own family's past for this novel about a family who moves around the country thanks to the father's pursuit of quick riches.
Michelle Zauner's memoir about the loss of her mother became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
In "The Last Samurai," a woman is tasked with raising a child prodigy. She embarks on a curriculum designed to stoke and challenge her son's brain. But there is a question that he longs to know, and so far hasn't been able to figure out: His father's name.