This book would not have had a ghost of a chance without the encouragement and advice of many generous friends, relatives, and colleagues: David Bacon, Sarah Banks, Mark Caldwell, Catherine Clarke, Liz Cross, Lisa Dierbeck, Cyril Emery, John Hart, Katherine Keenum, Ruth Landé, Josephine Lemann, Deborah Lutz, Anne Malcolm, Laura Miller, Laurie Muchnick, Alice Naude, Sharyn November, Marina Picciotto, David Prentiss, Maggie Robbins, Emily Saxl, Ted Shulman, Dee Smith, Andrew Solomon, Owen Thomas, Chelsea Wald, Howard Waldman, Jaime Wolf, Scott York.
I’m especially grateful to my first readers and warmest supporters: my husband, Andrew Nahem; my mother, Alix Kates Shulman; my sister-in-writing, Anna Christina Büchmann; my patient friend Tom Goodwillie; my brilliant editor, Nancy Paulsen; and my incomparable agent, Irene Skolnick.
I would also like to thank the ghost of my father, Martin Shulman. Dad may not have had much use for stories about magic, but he loved long yarns about sailing ships, pirate treasure, and adventure on the high seas.