Jo Case is an Adelaide-based writer, editor and bookseller. Her first book, Boomer and Me: A memoir of motherhood, and Asperger's (2013) was shortlisted for the inaugural Russell Prize for Humour Writing. Her personal essays have been published in the anthologies Mothermorphosis (MUP, 2015) and Rebellious Daughters (Ventura Press, 2016). She is a former deputy editor of Australian Book Review, books editor of the Big Issue and associate editor of Kill Your Darlings. She reviews regularly for the Age/Sydney Morning Herald and has reviewed for the Australian and the Monthly. She is a former program manager of Melbourne Writers Festival and was a founding board member of the Stella Prize and co-founder of Feminist Writers Festival. These days, she works at publisher Wakefield Press and at Imprints.
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'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
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'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
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'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
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'In telling her own story, Jo Case 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
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'A poignant portrait of the love between a mother and her son … What parenting yields by way of lessons is that our kids will teach us things about ourselves we do not know or necessarily wish to learn. It takes humility and courage to meet this head-on. Case's humour and strength shine as she turns towards this confrontation.' - Joanne Fedler, Australian
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'As Case reveals in this sensitively drawn narrative, labels can be both a relief and a curse, and the real story is about how individuals are always part of a community and that all communities flourish through the acceptance of individuality. … rich in minutiae, episodic and quietly moving.' - Fiona Gruber, Age/Sydney Morning Herald