Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan

Jake can't be all bad. After all, the Applewhite's beloved basset hound, Winston, takes to him right away. Wit's End, the Applewhite's farm, is the end of the road for Jake Semple, a 13-year-old juvenile delinquent who is given one last chance to reform. The family has graciously invited Jake to study at their "Creative Academy" where each of the highly talented and narcissistic off-spring create their own educational pathways. Edie, who likes to be called E. D. (E period D period), is supposedly the only "untalented" member of the family. But she has more of sense of organization and curriculum development than anyone. She is frustrated at every turn. At first, the chaos makes no sense to Jake who continuously tries to shock the family with his language and behavior. He finds that he is not getting through to them. they simply overlook these things and keep on accepting him anyway. Gradually he begins to change and even finds some hidden talents of his own. This story is filled with warm, eccentric characters and has an extravagant ending that you won't want to miss. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Committee)

Crazy characters and lots of action!
Uses The Sound of Music, my all-time favorite show, in its plot!
E.D.'s love of learning is contagious and even in a traditional classroom setting we could learn from her self-motivated goal-setting and discovery learning.
Newbery Honor Book (2003)

Those who love theater, dance, or all of the arts
Those who love nature, animals, or farm life
Those who love crazy characters
Those who feel "left-out" at times in their lives or feel like they have few talents
Those who are interested in home-schooling or discovery learning