The sequel to James Catchpole’s What Happened to You? Disability, and inspiration…
[Video description: Lucy & James – a white disabled couple with brown hair – and their daughters are sitting on their bed, they open a box with numerous copies of You’re SO Amazing! – a picture book with a one-legged boy with yellow crutches on the cover.]
“You’re SO Amazing” – not “I’m So Amazing” – by Daddy AND Mummy is a real, paper book. That tiny difference in the title matters, actually… Joe is absolutely not standing on the front cover asserting his amazing-ness. And neither are we.
Joe is NOT amazing. He’s just Joe – an ordinary one-legged boy who wants to play with his friends and eat his ice-cream.
But if questions are tiring and confusing when you’re trying to play, so are ice-cream men shouting “inspiring!” at you when you’re doing absolutely nothing.
Readers expecting a story of inspiration, of triumph over adversity, will be disappointed. But those disability stories tend to have very little to do with actual, real-life disability.
In real life – well, fictional real life – Joe’s fine. He’s ordinary. Disability is normal.
Hopefully, whatever their expectations, readers will get that.
Books! Where and how?
You’re SO Amazing! is out in May here in the UK – though to be completely honest, these books arrived a while ago – the video is from Christmas Day. (I prevaricated…)
Pre-orders are open everywhere in the UK now – and if you’d like to buy through our affiliate link at Blackwell’s, they deliver internationally.
The What Happened to You? launch was intense – copies sold QUICKLY. I’m sure it’ll be fine this time, but if you want to be at the front of the queue pre-ordering is the best bet.
The US edition isn’t out until 2024. This post covers the US in a bit more depth. We’re thrilled to have a US publisher – Little Brown – on board with both books. But they’re bringing out What Happened to You? first – which is ideal for all the readers over there who’ve never seen it before, but more frustrating for our loyal readers who got one of the UK copies years ago and are eagerly awaiting the sequel. The options are basically to be patient OR get a copy from the UK – e.g with the Blackwell’s link. Sorry!
– Lucy & James
[Video description: Lucy & James – a white disabled couple with brown hair – and their daughters are sitting on their bed, wearing pyjamas. They open a box with numerous copies of You’re SO Amazing! – a children’s picture book, illustrated by Karen George, with a one-legged boy with yellow crutches on the cover.]
The Catchpoles 