The Sibling
A sister's experience of autism
Will be published approx. on 28. November 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-1-80634-733-9 (ISBN)
Description
The memoir, The Sibling, is based on the author's experience growing up as the sister of a brother who was diagnosed with autism in 1975, a new term for the time, and how her misfit family navigated the early years of diagnosis. After writing more than 40 memoirs and biographies for others as a ghost writer, Jools decided it was about time she wrote her own, and after meeting other Siblings at an event, decided the time was now.
The Sibling is written from a childhood perspective. A solo child whose world is irrevocably altered by the arrival of a changeling, a baby brother who is different from other brothers. The book is about their childhood, growing up in a close, yet separate, relationship during the 1970s and '80s. Autism is sometimes described as sensory overload, so the book is thematically organised into that area of experience; Sight and sound - holidays and rain on the caravan roof. Taste - food, home for lunch. Touch and smell - school and play, relationships, diagnosis, the psychologist and a sibling leaving home.
The memoir navigates Jools' Northern, working-class background and misfit family, exploring sibling identity and definition through shared family life. It is a book of place, class and time, written with humour and heart.
The Sibling is written from a childhood perspective. A solo child whose world is irrevocably altered by the arrival of a changeling, a baby brother who is different from other brothers. The book is about their childhood, growing up in a close, yet separate, relationship during the 1970s and '80s. Autism is sometimes described as sensory overload, so the book is thematically organised into that area of experience; Sight and sound - holidays and rain on the caravan roof. Taste - food, home for lunch. Touch and smell - school and play, relationships, diagnosis, the psychologist and a sibling leaving home.
The memoir navigates Jools' Northern, working-class background and misfit family, exploring sibling identity and definition through shared family life. It is a book of place, class and time, written with humour and heart.
More details
Person
Jools Abrams is a professional and award-winning ghost writer (over 40 books for others, children's and memoir) and writes fiction, short stories and features of her own. In other life, Jools was a teacher in primary and forest school. When not writing she has adventures with She Who Dares (She wrote a book about them too). She is originally from the Northwest, but is now based in Herts.