‘AITA for asking my sister to pay me back after her child destroyed my daughter’s prized books?’

A furious mother turned to Reddit’s 'Am I The A**hole' (AITA) forum for advice after a family visit went disastrously wrong—all thanks to her niece.

The issue was that her 13-year-old niece destroyed her daughter’s cherished book collection, including a brand-new special edition she had been saving up for. And when the mother demanded that her sister pay for the damage, things got ugly.

A special book collection and a family feud

In the post titled, "AITA for making my sister pay back my daughter?", the original poster (OP) — a 42-year-old mother — explained that her 16-year-old daughter Brooke had been a book lover since she was five. Over the years, she had built up an extensive collection, filled with limited and special edition books that she had painstakingly saved her allowance to buy.

Just recently, Brooke had finally purchased a special edition version of a book she already owned—one she had been waiting for and was beyond excited to get her hands on. But her joy was short-lived.

"Well, my sister Lindsey (36) came over on Saturday with her daughter Mariah (13) to spend time with us because it's been a while since we got to hang out and we were just catching up. Mariah started to head to Brooke's room but I stopped her and told her that Brooke was out and she would be home in twenty minutes so I suggested that she wait down here with us and tell me about how school was going," the OP wrote.

Mariah stuck around for about 10 minutes before saying she needed to use the bathroom. With the downstairs bathroom out of order, OP told her she could use the one upstairs instead.

While OP continued chatting with her sister, Brooke came home, said a quick hello, and went upstairs to change. Within five minutes, a blood-curdling scream erupted from upstairs.

"She wasn't up there for five minutes when I heard a loud scream and quickly ran to check on my daughter. When I got to her room my jaw dropped when I saw several of her books (including the new special edition one) destroyed with ripped pages everywhere and Brooke in tears at the destruction," the OP explained.

The OP immediately stepped in for her devastated daughter. She demanded that Mariah apologize to Brooke, clean up the mess, and understand that she was no longer welcome in their home. Then, she turned to her sister, Lindsey, and told her she needed to reimburse Brooke for the books her daughter had deliberately destroyed.

But Lindsey wasn’t having it. "Lindsey argued with me that Mariah was just a kid and she didn't know what she was doing but I told her that Mariah is old enough to know right from wrong and what she did was wrong. Lindsey argued back that if my daughter didn't want her books touched they shouldn't have been out," the OP wrote.

She continued, "I lost my cool and told her that they weren't out. They were put away in her room where Mariah wasn't allowed to be without Brooke's permission. Lindsey refused to pay Brooke back and called me a greedy b***h before leaving with Mariah right behind her."

Later, the OP told her husband about the incident, and he was firmly on her side. He agreed that Lindsey should be held accountable, especially since some of the books were limited editions that couldn’t be replaced.

"This whole thing has really blown up and my side of the family is telling me that I'm being too hard on Mariah, that she's just a kid but I don't think I am. She destroyed my daughter's property and she needs to know that her actions have consequences. So I'm asking here. Was I the ah for demanding that my sister pay me back?" the OP asked.

Internet declares OP 'NTA', asks her to 'hold your ground'

Reddit was overwhelmingly on the OP’s side, calling the entire situation outrageous.

"NTA. A 13 year old? Wow. Even 5-year-olds know better than that. Your family can f**k off, hold your ground," one responded.

"Why is everyone acting like Mariah is a toddler? She's 13, she 100% knew exactly what she was doing, and she did it on purpose. Your whole family sounds wacked. NTA," another fumed.

"NTA file a police report," someone else added.

"NTA. Mariah is old enough to know better, and your sister should take responsibility. Actions have consequences, and Brooke deserves to be reimbursed," read a comment.

"NTA. small claims court. Unbelievable. your sister AND your niece both need to learn a lesson," another chimed in.

After seeing some questions from Reddit users, the OP added an interesting update:

"Mariah has always had a fascination with Brooke's book collection and last year Brooke let her borrow two books because Mariah said that she wanted to start reading and since Brooke loves reading so much she thought it was a good idea to let Mariah borrow a couple. Well, two weeks passed and the books came back damaged (nothing like this but definitely not in good condition anymore)."

After that incident, Brooke refused to lend her any more books, which infuriated Mariah. She even yelled at Brooke about it. Since then, Brooke has kept Mariah away from her collection—which may explain why Mariah intentionally destroyed the books this time.

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