I owe a great deal of thanks to so many people for helping me to shape this book. First off, I need to thank my editor, Jenne Abramowitz, for molding the story into shape. Every writer should be so lucky to have such an editor. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Jana Haussmann at Scholastic Book Fairs for encouraging me to pursue this novel. In fact, I’m just going to go all in and say a great big thank-you to everyone at Scholastic for being such a great publisher and helping me grow as a writer.

My family, as always, is my source of strength and inspiration. In particular, my wife, Kelly, deserves far more praise for her help and encouragement than I could ever confine to the pages of this book. My children, Mick, Jessica, and Rachel, do nothing except provide me with laughter and joy every single day. I love you all.