Boomer and Me: A memoir of motherhood, and Asperger's

by Jo Case

Hardie Grant Books, April 2013

$24.95 paperback

‘Are you going to be a good boy this year?’

‘Uh huh. I have no interest in toilet humour.’

‘You don’t?’

‘No. No interest at all. I mean, I think it’s funny when, in The Bad Book, Terence takes off all his clothes. And when Horrid Henry shows his undies. But I would think to myself, That is something I should not do.’

‘Good.’

Between juggling work, joint custody and the ordinary demands of motherhood, Jo tries to work out why her son Leo is finding it hard to fit in at school. Is it because he’s an only child? Could he be gifted?

When Leo is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, Jo tries to figure out what it means – and whether Leo’s similarities to herself, and her own family, have a deeper significance.

***

I have a new and improved website at www.jocasewrites.com. Please visit me there for all the latest blog posts and book information.

***

With lucid precision Jo Case uncovers the hidden identity of a boy and his mother. Like Helen Garner, she has a steady, careful eye, and uses it to bring back news of glorious, rackety life. A work of love and beauty.

Susan Johnson

***

Gutsy and heartfelt, Boomer and Me not only relays the rhythms of what it’s like to raise a child with Asperger’s, but illuminates the fundamental challenges of being any parent. Jo Case has written an honest and deeply affecting account of motherhood, with all its contradictions, anxieties and joys intact. A stunning memoir.

Benjamin Law

***

Jo Case doesn’t milk, or mine, or plunder her experiences of motherhood; she lays them out with dignity and humour. You trust her. You are with her every step. This book will do a lot of good in the world.

Maria Tumarkin

***

Jo Case’s memoir is a deft and graceful piece of story telling, providing a moving insight into what it is to be the mother of a child with Aspergers. But her book is also far more than that. In telling her own story she manages to illuminate the deeper, universal truths that underpin the experience of motherhood. Courageous, compelling and shot through with gentle humour, this is a book that all parents should read.

Monica Dux