Winter 2021-2022      Volume 50, Number 1

Radical Respect and Truth-Telling in Children’s Books Help Us All Grow Up
By Anastasia Higginbotham

Document: Article, reprinted article from IRCJ 49(1), pp. 17-23 

Introductory Paragraph:  Since the “critical race theory” accusations began, I’ve seen livestream footage of Not My Idea being waved around, debated, attacked, and defended by State House Representatives and Senators in Texas. I’ve received concerned e-mails from college professors and parents in Wisconsin, Kentucky, and other parts of the country who value the book’s honesty and want to keep it available. They let me know the pressure is on and keep me aware of efforts to fight censorship and demand real history education for students from elementary school up.  I have two new books since this piece was first published—What You Don’t Know (January 2021) and You Ruined It (April 2022). Both are middle grade books featuring 11-year-old narrators of their own stories about ordinary, terrible things. In What You Don’t Know, a child navigates a homophobic world secure in the love of his family and some faculty at his school, the real Jesus Christ, and a close friend who invites him to co-create a podcast about their beautiful, queer existence. You Ruined It hones in on the confusion and pain of childhood sexual abuse by a family member and bears witness to a girl who gets the fierce love and care she needs from her mother and older sibling as she learns to trust herself.

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.33600/IRC J.49.1.2020.17

Page Numbers:   16-22