Welcome Home, Jellybean is a is a 1978 novel written by Marlene Fanta Shyer, also adapted into an CBS Schoolbreak Special by the same title.
The story follows an ordinary middle-class suburban American family, as shared from the perspective of Neil, a teenage boy. The family is disturbed to discover that Neil's mentally disabled ("retarded") sister, Geraldine, is having her belongings stolen and may be getting abused in the care facility where she lives, so they make the decision to bring the girl home to live with them. This proves to be challenging for the whole family. To cut back on expenses, Neil is made to go to public school instead of the private school he's accustomed to, and Geraldine is destructive and exhausting, although she doesn't mean to be.
The book, written in the late 70s and presumably set in this time period as well, is from a period back when most mentally disabled minors were sent away from their families and didn't live at home. This presents two dilemmas: Neil never got to know his sister when they were growing up, and the general public finds Geraldine creepy, annoying and a great target for mockery and bullying.
The book was released many times in hardcover from the 1970s - 1980s, but fell out of print until Rakuten Kobo released a digital eBook version in the early 2000s. Some newer versions of the book have the ableist phrase "retarded" removed or replaced with more sensitive language.
The book contains examples of the following tropes:
- Brother–Sister Team: Shaky at first, but when the trope emerges in the latter half of the book, it's charming and adorable to see.
- Bullying the Disabled: Neil is mortified when a group of bullies begin targeting his sister, mocking the way she pronounces her own name and picking on her, which she herself doesn't understand.
- Comedic Work, Serious Scene: This trope is more prominent in the CBS TV adaptation; much of the story is played for laughs, which can be jarring considering the uncomfortable subject matter involves a teenage boy trying to help his disabled sister and protect her from bullies.
- Disappeared Dad: Occurs later when Neil and Geraldine's dad leaves the family home because he gets frustrated by Geraldine's behaviour.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Geraldine has 2 nicknames: "Gerri" (not bad), but also "Jellybean", which comes from bullies mocking the way that Geraldine pronounces her own name (she speaks in a slurred voice due to her disability). To makes matters worse, Geraldine doesn't recognize that the bullies are making fun of her when they call her this.
- Speech Impediment: Geraldine has a speech impediment, and it isn't made clear why.
