Raising Ollie: How My Nonbinary Art-Nerd Kid Changed (Nearly) Everything I Know

(Paperback)

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The account of one radically new school year for a Teacher of the Year and for his nonbinary, art-obsessed, brilliant child

Seven-year-old Ollie was researching local advanced school programsbecause every second grader does that, right Ollie, who used to hate weekends because they meant no school, was crying on the way to school almost every day. Sure, there were the slings and arrows of bullies and bad teachers, but, maybe worse, Ollie, a funny, anxious, smart kid with a thing for choir and an eye for graphic art, was gravely underchallenged and also struggling with identity and how to live totally as themselves. Ollie begged to switch to a new school with kids like me, where they wouldnt feel so alone, or so bored, and so they made the change.

Raising Ollie is dad Tom Rademachers story (really, many stories) of that eventful and sometimes painful school year, parenting Ollie and relearning every day what it means to be a father and teacher. As Olliewho is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and prefers art to athletics, vegetables to cake, and animals to most humansflourishes in their new school, Rademacher is making an eye-opening adjustment to a new school of his own, one thats whiter and more suburban than anywhere he has previously taught, with a history of racial tension that he tries to address and navigate.

While Ollie is learning to code, 3D model, animate, speak Japanese, and finally feel comfortable at school, Rademacher increasingly sees how his own educational struggles, anxieties, and childhood upbringing are reflected in his teaching, writing, and parenting, as well as in Ollies experience. And with this story of one anything-but-academic year of inquiry and wonder, doubt and revelation, he shows us how raising a kid changes everythingand how much raising a kid like Ollie can teach us about who we are and what were doing in the world.

Reviews

"As vulnerable and honest a piece Ive ever read from an educator, Tom Rademachers beautiful and conversational story ought to encourage more of us to dig deeper and reflect harder."Jos Luis Vilson, educator, father, executive director of EduColor, and author of This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education

"A fine introduction to nonbinary gender identity, courtesy of a child and their supportive parents."Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Tom Rademacher is an eighth grade English teacher in the Minneapolis area. His book It Wont Be Easy: An Exceedingly Honest (and Slightly Unprofessional) Love Letter to Teaching (Minnesota, 2017) was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. His writing has been published in Education Post, City Pages, MinnPost, and Huffington Post. In 2014 he was honored as Minnesotas Teacher of the Year.