Growing up with Margaret Garvin was never easy for her sister Eileen. As her sibling, she constantly found herself thrown into situations that were often all at once awkward, heartbreaking,
and often bizarrely funny. But now that both were adults, things just kept getting harder and weirder. Just what was Eileen's relationship with Margaret supposed to be like? How could she —
how do any of us — have a relationship with someone who can’t drive, fly, write letters, send email, or talk on the phone? What role would she be asked to play as their parents aged? What
about after they died? How to Be a Sister poses and grapples with these questions, as it chronicles Eileen Garvin's experiences growing up with a sister with autism and traces her
quest to develop and maintain a meaningful connection with her in adulthood. With its meticulous and subtle storytelling and its emotional candor and clarity, it will speak not only to
siblings but also to families, friends, teachers and therapists of people with autism — as well as anyone who struggles to make room in his or her adult life for someone different or
difficult.
