Thank you to my boy, Joshua, for the tank. I promised to acknowledge you, so here you go. You have walked around the neighborhood with me, distracted me, and enthralled me with your magic talks of World War II bombers, fighters, and pilots, and much more.
Thank you to Mike Leibling for your generous guidance, your open-mindedness, and your subtle but wonderful British humor when I needed it. To Dianna Rostad, for reading anything I wrote, for the tears and laughter, and for your decades-long friendship. To my dear friend Janie Chang, for your gentle talks, our shared heritage, and the dim sum.
Thank you to Rabbi Geoffrey Dennis for helping research the bat mitzvah tradition in the US in the 1920s. Without your help, the details of Miriam’s momentous ritual would be told differently. To Sofie Delgado and Sabrina Moormann, for helping me with the German passage in the novel. Thank you to my talented friends at Tall Poppy Writers—Amy Reichert, Ann Garvin, Aimie Runyan, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and of course all the others I don’t have a chance to add here—for all the lovely conversations, the expert suggestions, and many thoughtful comments and generous help on my publishing journey.
Thank you to the librarians at Flower Mound Public Library, especially Vickie Doss, for putting in my hands many books I requested through the interlibrary loan service. I’m grateful for your enthusiasm and diligence.
Thank you so much to my Jewish family for your enthusiastic embrace of my books and your steadfast support—you probably will never know how much your acceptance means to me—and to my family in China and my precious Annabelle for cheering me on.
Last but not least, my endless love and adoration to Mark, my husband, my secretary, my technical support. I hope you’ll read my books someday, and I want to let you know that you’re my favorite song, and you’ll always have my ears.