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You Ruined It
Written and illustrated
by Anastasia Higginbotham
On Sale April 5, 2022
ISBN 9781948340304
In You Ruined It, author Anastasia Higginbotham sheds light on the confusion and pain that many children feel in the aftermath of incest and sexual assault.
When an 11-year-old discloses that a favorite cousin sexually assaulted her, it's hard to tell what hurts more: the betrayal or the fall-out. After all, everyone always says to tell someone, but does this mean she'll never get to hang out with him again? What if he goes to jail?
And the biggest question of all: How will she know if she can trust someone again?
You Ruined It is a testament to an 11-year-old's experience of a confusing betrayal, her broken heart, and the loved ones who help her piece it back together.
About the Author
Photo by Isabel del Rosal
Anastasia Higginbotham is the author and illustrator of Divorce Is the Worst, Death Is Stupid, Tell Me About Sex, Grandma and Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness—all part of the Ordinary Terrible Things series—and What You Don’t Know: A Story of Liberated Childhood . Not My Idea addresses anti-Black systemic racism and earned the International Children’s Library White Raven Award (2018). Her newest titles, What You Don't Know (January 2021) and You Ruined It (March 2022), are middle grade books featuring 11-year-old narrators—one navigates homophobia secure in the love of family, friends, and the real Jesus Christ; the other copes with the confusion and pain of childhood incest abuse and gets the care she needs from her mom and older sibling as she learns to trust herself.
Higginbotham makes her books by hand in collage using only recycled materials. Her talks and workshops demonstrate a way to cope with change and loss using whatever raw materials are available and drawing on the wisdom of our own lived experiences at every age. Her work undermines systems of domination and oppression such as white supremacy and patriarchy by empowering children to live in their integrity and full humanity.
Higginbotham teaches full-impact self-defense for Prepare Inc. and writes for social justice organizations. Her work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Believer, The New York Times, and more. She lives in Brooklyn.
