My Brother's Name is Jessica

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My Brother's Name is Jessica

By: John Boyne

Narrated by: Joe Jameson

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Penguin presents the audiobook edition of My Brother's Name is Jessica written by John Boyne, read by Joe Jameson.

Sam Waver's life has always been pretty quiet. A bit of a loner, he struggles to make friends, and his busy parents often make him feel invisible. Luckily for Sam, his older brother, Jason, has always been there for him. Sam idolises Jason, who seems to have life sorted - he's kind, popular, amazing at football, and girls are falling over themselves to date him.

But then one evening Jason calls his family together to tell them that he's been struggling with a secret for a long time. A secret which quickly threatens to tear them all apart. His parents don't want to know and Sam simply doesn't understand.

Because what do you do when your brother says he's not your brother at all? That he's actually . . . your sister?

Fiction

Growing Up

Growing Up & Facts of Life

Humorous Fiction

Literature & Fiction

Comedy

Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Humorous Fiction Literature & Fiction Comedy

Critic reviews

...this poignant and disarming story is full of heart and it's crescendo will give you tingles

John Boyne made his name with The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and he's on stellar form in My Brother's Name is Jessica. A sensitively written and timely tale.

A story with so much heart that the pages practically pulse. Both funny and moving... this is a must-read for all ages

Outstanding

A sincere and very readable attempt to educate young people about the trans experience and foster acceptance

John Boyne adds his deft sensitivity to the complex topic of transgenderism

It's all sorts of amazing

I loved My Brother's Name is Jessica. It's a story with so much heart that the pages practically pulse. A moving, thought-provoking, surprising read - don't miss it!

Most relevant

I’m aware some trans folk have taken offence at this novel, sometimes even without having read it. Nevertheless I found it a moving story, intended for a young readership, of the effects on an affluent ambitious ultra respectable family of the elder child, aged 17, popular, sporty, high up the school pecking order, informing their wee brother, 13 year old Sam, dyslexic, low status in school, and high profile parents, that they are no longer Jason, but Jessica.
Sam takes a lot of flak, losing his protector at school, bullied on account of his non-conforming sibling, and now a sideline for his parents.
Being 13 isn’t joyful- body, brain, emotions all in flux.

I don’t think it demeans trans people for someone (gay male, cis) to write a novel with a narrator who is a pubescent brother of someone who is beginning transition. Statistically there will be more family members of trans folk than trans people themselves.
It’s rather limiting to restrict authors of fiction to their own personal experience, and I don’t see anything wicked in a writer considering what it might be like, to experience a major alteration in family dynamics, complicated in this household by press intrusion.