Lesson Plans

Library Journal Editor’s Pick“Readers who enjoyed Tom Perrotta’s Little Children will want to try Suzanne Greenberg’s Lesson Plans, an entertaining, funny, and thoughtful debut novel about three California homeschooling families.” —Library Journal Editor’s Pick citation“Homeschooling will never be the same after Suzanne Greenberg’s hilarious, poignant, and cinematic debut novel . . . a survival manual for intelligent parents willing to take a hard road, and for any reader, a sheer delight.” —HOWARD NORMAN, Two-time National Book Award Finalist for The Northern Lights and The Bird ArtistLesson Plans chronicles the lives of three California families who choose to homeschool for different, deeply personal reasons.Patterson is a straight-laced insurance adjuster who has recently discovered both surfing and God and convinces his wife to homeschool their rambunctious twins. David is a liberal stay-at-home dad who feels stuck in suburbia and throws his energy into homeschoolong his three “ducklings.” Wedding photographer Keith has just separated from Beth, a full-time mom struggling to manage her own private chaos. And there’s Jennifer, Keith and Beth’s precocious daughter, who copes with severe allergies and doesn’t understand why she’s not attending school and seeing friends like she used to. Will homeschooling provide balance and harmony for these families? Or will it bring unforeseen challenges and stress?In this captivating and funny debut novel, Suzanne Greenberg takes a serious look at the choices parents profess to make on behalf of their children, as well as the unpredictable ways in which new relationships can change our lives.Suzanne Greenberg is the author of Speed-Walk and Other Stories, which was selected for the Drue Heinz Literature Prize by Rick Moody and was a John Gardner Fiction Book Award Finalist. She is also the co-author of two novels for children and a guide to creative writing. Lesson Plans is her first novel for adults.A New Jersey native, Greenberg lives with her husband and three children in California and teaches creative writing at California State University, Long Beach.