ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For as long as I’ve been working on this novel and dreaming of its publication, I’ve also been looking forward to saying thanks. My deepest gratitude to the people and institutions that have been instrumental in the creation of this book and sustaining my writing life:
Team Frida. To Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, my fierce and dazzling agent, for our collaboration and literary partnership. To my brilliant editors, who understood this book’s heart and purpose and showed me how to get there. Dawn Davis, for loving, elegant problem-solving and guidance, making my manuscript leaner and meaner, and mentoring me on book, career, and motherhood. Jocasta Hamilton, for abundant wisdom, magic, and humor. Marysue Rucci, Charlotte Cray, and Ailah Ahmed, for taking the reins with such warmth and panache. Working with you has been a dream come true.
The Simon & Schuster team. Jonathan Karp, Dana Canedy, and Richard Rhorer championed this book. Brittany Adames, Hana Park, and Chelcee Johns steered the ship. Morgan Hart, Erica Ferguson, and Andrea Monagle corrected my timeline and fixed so much. Jackie Seow, Grace Han, and Carly Loman designed the most beautiful house for my words. Julia Prosser, Anne Pearce, Elizabeth Breeden, Kassandra Rhoads, and Chonise Bass connected this book with readers.
The Hutchinson Heinemann team. Laura Brooke, Sarah Ridley, Olivia Allen, Henry Petrides, Linda Mohamed, Claire Bush, Rose Waddilove, Emma Grey Gelder, Mat Watterson, and Cara Conquest, thank you for your passion and vision.
At CAA and DeFiore & Company, much gratitude to the intrepid Michelle Weiner and Jiah Shin; their assistants Zachary Roberge and Kellyn Morris; Jacey Mitziga; Dana Bryan; Emma Haviland-Blunk; and Linda Kaplan for tireless work on my behalf.
Diane Cook and Catherine Chung, my novel-writing mentors and dear friends, for draft reading and pep talks. Diane’s short story “Moving On,” from her acclaimed collection, Man V. Nature, was also an early inspiration for the school.
Keith S. Wilson and Yvonne Woon, for enthusiastically reading and discussing one revised chapter at a time and always demanding the next installment. Additional thanks to Keith for serving as informal tech consultant.
Friends who generously read the entire manuscript or parts: Naomi Jackson, Annie Liontas, Sarah Marshall, Lizzy Seitel, Chaney Kwak, Sean Casey, and Lindsay Sproul. Special thanks to Lydia Conklin and Hilary Leichter for reading and cheering at all stages.
For life-changing gifts of time, space, and financial support: the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Anderson Center, the Jentel Foundation, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Special thanks to the Ragdale Foundation for first taking a chance on me in 2007.
The Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference has meant so much to me. This project would have remained a complicated short story if not for a crucial push from Percival Everett. Thank you, Percival, for seeing a novel within the pages I submitted for your workshop. To Lan Samantha Chang and Helena María Viramontes, for excellent advice and big dreams. To Michael Collier, Jennifer Grotz, and Noreen Cargill, for the early vote of confidence.
My teachers at Brown and Columbia: Robert Coover, Robert Arellano, Ben Marcus, Rebecca Curtis, Victor LaValle, David Ebershoff （joy and wonder!）， Sam Lipsyte, Stacey D’Erasmo, and Gary Shteyngart. Thank you for teaching me about craft, literature, and perseverance. I wrote my first stories in Jane Unrue’s beginning fiction workshop at Brown in 1997. Thank you, Jane, for setting me on this path.
Thomas Ross and Rob Spillman at Tin House, Michael Koch at Epoch, and their colleagues, for publishing my first stories.
My Publishers Weekly family, for the opportunity to learn about the industry while working with the nicest bookworms imaginable.
Beowulf Sheehan, for your kindness and artistry.
Carmen Maria Machado; Diane Cook （again）; Robert Jones, Jr.; Leni Zumas; and Liz Moore for your words.
Erin Hadley, for emotional support and key backstory. Erin O’Brien, Brieanna Wheeland, Samuel Loren, and Bridget Sullivan, for advice about family court and pediatric medicine.
The journalists and scholars whose work influenced the development of this fictional world in tangible and intangible ways. From the New Yorker, “Where Is Your Mother?” by Rachel Aviv and “The Talking Cure” by Margaret Talbot sparked early interest. Ms. Talbot’s article also inspired the dolls’ word counters and introduced me to motherese. Highlights of additional reading include: “Foster Care as Punishment: The New Reality of ‘Jane Crow’？” by Stephanie Clifford and Jessica Silver-Greenberg in The New York Times; What’s Wrong with Children’s Rights by Martin Guggenheim; Nobody’s Children by Elizabeth Bartholet; Beyond the Best Interests of the Child by Joseph Goldstein, Anna Freud, and Albert J. Solnit; Small Animals by Kim Brooks; To the End of June by Cris Beam; Perfect Madness by Judith Warner; All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior.