As always, I am glad and lucky to be a part of the New Leaf Literary family. Thank you to Hilary Pecheone, Joe Volpe, Veronica Grijalva, Victoria Hendersen, Meredith Barnes, Abigail Donoghue, Jenniea Carter, Katherine Curtis, Kate Sullivan, the always on-point Jordan Hill, the relentless Pouya Shahbazian, and my agent, Joanna Volpe, who somehow saw the destination before I did—and managed to get us there.
Sarah Rees Brennan and Holly Black lent me their extraordinary brains and helped to shape the earliest drafts of this book. Marie Lu and Daniel José Older steered me through to the end with kindness and insight. Thank you to Kyle Lukoff and Jesse Deshays, who aided me in telling Hanne’s story. Robyn, Rachael, Ziggy, Morgan, Michelle, Sarah, Theodora, Jimmy, the Platinum Patties and the Pajama Pals—united in alliteration, all kept me going with humor, smarts, and the occasional delivery of ceramic ghosts. Thanks and love to Christine, Sam, Emily, Ryan, my beautiful mother, and Wally, who makes everything better. And E, I know you don’t like me to make a fuss, but thank you for being my friend, my familiar, and the only person I could love more after eleven hours in the car. A final thank-you to Jean, who is loved and remembered.