By now, everyone reading this blog knows that Grace’s book changed my life. When Grace decided to open The Hive, a center modeled after North Star, and join our Liberated Learners network, I felt a unique moment of fulfillment. Our team at North Star had inspired our own inspiration! Twenty-five years later, I am glad to count Grace as a friend as well as a colleague.
Now Grace has published a revised and updated version of her book, and her inclusion of North Star, Liberated Learners, and myself is a lifetime accomplishment. I took the opportunity to write a blurb as a special moment, and I wrote far more than she could include – the usable blurb is just the first sentence! Here is the full, unedited version.
Three pivotal events divide my life into “Before” and “After” moments: 1) meeting my wife, 2) becoming a parent, and 3) reading The Teenage Liberation Handbook.
Before reading this book, I was a teacher committed to reforming schools by working my way up the system, presumably to someday become the Secretary of Education. After reading it, I was derailed into leaving the system to start a program that would help all of my students use the wisdom and lifestyle described in these pages. My life changed because of this book, clearly for the better. I know that I am one of many people—teens, parents, teachers, activists—who can make that statement with utter certainty.
When we started North Star, we used this book to swear in our first Board of Directors! I have personally ordered hundreds of copies of this book and handed them out to young people in western Massachusetts, so if you are searching for an old edition, you might head out here to improve your chances of securing one.
Upon skimming this latest addition, I am struck by how valuable the “handbook” sections are for people of all ages. There is so much to learn and do, and so many ways to pursue our interests. Grace lays out specific resources along with an empowering attitude to seizing the moment to learn right now! I propose this book be handed out to all adults embarking on retirement just as much as it might be shared with teens who are seeking another way to live. This book is a gift to everyone with a spark of curiosity and some time on their hands.
What else is there to say? I read this book in one night at age 30, and I felt the vision that has become my adult professional life of North Star and Liberated Learners. Thank you, Grace, and I wish more readers will find their own lives challenged and disrupted in creative ways as I have experienced.