Release Date: April 10, 2026
Size: 5.5x8.25
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-57869-218-7
Library of Congress Control Number: TBD
Booksellers and Libraries: Order Info Here or at Ingram.

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old soccer star Indie Watson loves her team and her family. At home, she is the glue—the one who holds her family together. But when Indie wakes up sore and foggy after a party, unsure of exactly what happened, she knows one thing: she didn’t consent.

As her classmates post about her on social media, assigning judgment and blame, she falls into a spiral of self doubt and denial and can’t hold it all together anymore. Instead of facing the truth, she runs away. It is through music, memory, and the kindness of strangers that Indie learns to face what happened, and to redefine who she is now: a survivor who won’t be silenced.

From the author of the middle grade novel The Order of the Trees and the adult novel The Board, What If It Wasn’t My Fault is a #metoo young adult novel in verse about friendship, feminism, and finding your voice.

PRAISE

“Katy Farber’s What If It Wasn’t My Fault is a blazing act of courage. I read it with my heart in my throat, captivated by 17-year-old Indie and her transformation from a ‘ghost girl’ trying to be ‘everything/ everyone wants’ to a ‘survivor-warrior’ speaking out for justice. Farber has crafted an urgent account of the aftermath of sexual violence in a small town, where sports are worshipped, girls are expected to be ‘perfect little dolls,’ and those who speak the truth about assault are accused of seeking attention. Told in verse both tender and fiercely embodied, the novel weaves a page-turning narrative with moments of lyrical beauty. In the tradition of Laurie Halse Anderson and Chanel Miller, What If It Wasn’t My Fault refuses shame and invisibility and affirms the healing power of sharing your story. An essential read for survivors and those who love them– and for all teens who need to know they are not alone.”

—Diana Whitney, author of Girl Trouble

______________________

“What if it wasn’t my Fault immediately brings to mind poetic narratives like Poet X and Brown Girl Dreaming. It’s alive with the raw moment of becoming someone else, of standing on the other side of what happens to us. Stitched together like a quilt of spoken healing, the story of Indie tugs at the heart, and no doubt will stir the memories of those who lost their young girl selves at the moment a man took what was not his. Indie says, ‘this is not my obligation / what does my body / have to do with gratitude?’ and it is a question that unfortunately echoes through generations. But Indie also has hope, bubbling up through the process of running—first away from, and then toward—ourselves. Indie gives us permission to tell our stories, to heal, and to put down the burden.”

—Kim Ward, author of Fire on a Circle

Meet the Author

Katy Farber is an assistant professor and writer from Vermont. She writes about education in addition to books for adults and young people. Find her at www.katyfarber.com.