[aisle] Healing from Sexual Assualt

[Emily Meszaros]

I haven't read it yet - but just bought "You ruined it" by Anastasia
Higginbotham. A touch younger than what you're looking for but got a lot of
praise.

*Kirkus Reviews 2022 May #2*
Dawn processes the consequences of telling her mother and her sibling about
what her older cousin did to her. Her mother is reluctant to tell
relatives, including Dawn’s grandmother and absent father, about the rape,
but she and Dawn’s sibling, Billie, support her, and the family attends
self-defense lessons. Billie feels greater anger and need for revenge than
Dawn, who misses bygone days outdoors with her 22-year-old cousin.
Handwritten text on lined paper evokes the intimate feeling of a diary. The
collage art conveys Dawn’s varying emotional state as she grapples with the
aftermath of the assault. Words and images are placed next to or inside
circular shapes produced by spirographs to indicate feelings and
experiences she asserts or rejects, demonstrating a therapeutic art
exercise she learns about later in the story (“what i want goes inside the
circle. what i don’t want stays out”). Crossed-out text, including raped
and we, reflects her efforts to reckon with what happened and who was
responsible. Dawn is gentle on herself and, by extension, on readers who
may have been in similar situations. Her acts of self-care, from reclaiming
old favorite settings to creating art, demonstrate practical means of
healing. Dawn and her family are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed
digitally.) This empowering lesson about speaking up and trusting oneself
in the wake of trauma deserves to be read widely. (questions for
reflection; author’s notes about incest, self-defense, and spirographs;
resources for further learning) (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus 2022
Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
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*SLJ Reviews 2022 May*

Gr 4–8—In her new book, Higginbotham explores the confusion and pain of
incest and sexual assault. Using collage and handwriting text in a journal
format, Higginbotham shares the experience of Dawn, an 11-year-old who is
sexually assaulted by her favorite cousin: the one who took her to the
creek during the summer and who she loved spending time with. The text
focuses on Dawn's feelings and emotions after the assault. It sensitively
examines the complicated layers of trauma for Dawn, her mother, and Dawn's
older sibling, Billie. Dawn struggles with still loving her cousin and
wondering if the abuse was her fault. Dawn's mom and Billie believe Dawn,
but have reactions very different from her. Her mother takes a self-defense
course and Billie wants to beat up their cousin. Dawn is struggling with
trying to trust anyone again and not wanting to see someone she loved
dearly get hurt. The use of collage and handwriting brings intimacy to
Dawn's experiences and captures the messiness and complexities of the
situation. In addition, Higginbotham takes time to frontload the narrative
with details to support readers and adds additional resources and other
supports at the end of the text. VERDICT Higginbotham approaches a
difficult topic with sensitivity and nuance; an excellent, insightful
resource for young people who have been through abuse, as well as friends
of young people who have been sexually assaulted.—Rebekah J. Buchanan
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal.

On Thu, Jan 26, 2023 at 8:07 AM Jordan Adams via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Chirp by Kate Messner
> Speak by Anderseon
> Fighting Words by Bradley
> When You Know What I know by Solter
> Starfish by Bowman
>
> On Thu, Jan 26, 2023 at 8:02 AM Kim Dykstra via AISLE <
> aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have a suggestion for a middle school level book that models
>> a character healing from sexual assault?
>> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> *Jordan Adams, *MLIS
> RCMS School Librarian
>
>
> *Currently Reading:*
>
> MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG
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-- 
Emily Meszaros, MLIS
Chelsea Elementary Library
Frankfort, IL
815-469-2309 x.4531
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