A second cover reveal in one month feels excessive, but here we are – the cover for the new US edition of What Happened to You? And actually, I checked our blog stats the other day, and unlike on instagram where the UK dominates, a surprisingly large percentage of you are North Americans – so hello!

What Happened to You? first came out in 2021, but this is the new US edition – now with a US publisher – Little, Brown publish in April. So we added it to the video we made about the book. (I know – seamless. You probably didn’t notice…)

Pre-orders are now open in Barnes & Noble, bookshop.org and of course Amazon – though do check it’s the right cover. (Only the Bookshop link is affiliate.)

From the start, we’ve had messages from all over the world. Intrusive questions are clearly a problem for disabled people everywhere. The messages from parents whose disabled child sees themselves in this book are particularly precious. We really do value every message, story and email.

And we hope this edition – by Little, Brown, such a well-known US publisher – will break out beyond our remarkable supporters.

It feels cheeky to ask for pre-orders, but if you’re in North America and can support this new edition and show there’s demand by pre-ordering for a friend / relative / cat we’ll be grateful. Because if you’ve found us here, chances are you aren’t really the target for this new edition – you’re the vanguard who can say “of course I’ve had the UK edition for years”.

But this is a chance for What Happened to You? – and its message – to reach many more people.

I don’t believe a US publisher would have happened without all of our US supporters who found us here and on Instagram – who waited for weeks back in 2021 for copies to come through. If that’s you, thank you! I’m sorry you have a wait for the sequel – You’re So Amazing! will be published in the US in 2024.

We exist in such an international bubble, on social media, but publishing is still bound by borders. (Of course, in reality, wherever you are in the world you can order directly through Blackwell’s, shipping from the UK.)

BREAKING NEWS: I can now confirm that US publicity will include James being interviewed for a podcast by a robot vampire vacuum cleaner.

– Lucy & James

[Video description: For most of the video, James – a white man with brown hair and one leg – sits on the stairs talking directly to the camera. We’ve pasted the new Little Brown cover over the top of the early printed-out version of What Happened to You? Cut in is video of him with his young daughters and wife (a wheelchair user) in the garden. He’s using crutches and clearly has one leg. There’s also a photo of him as a young child, wearing very fetching dungarees. At the end, Mainie – then 5yo – carries 1yo Viola right up to the camera. Viola looks nonplussed.]