Writing a book might be a solitary task, but after it’s finished comes a list of incredible people. And there have been plenty of those over the months in which Where We Go from Here was read, reread, revised, cut, and polished to arrive in your hands in its current form.

This is the moment to remember each person who has been with me along this small journey.

First of all, my three pillars: Suely, Rodolfo, and Diego (aka my mom, dad, and brother, respectively). You are the best family a person could ask for, and I feel profoundly lucky to have you by my side. Thank you for all the support and for always being present in my life. I love you all.

To my agent, Gui Liaga, from Página 7 Agency, who gave me all the support I needed to turn this book into a reality. Without her, you would probably have nothing but promises of a story that would never have been finished. Thank you for adding so much to this plot and for getting it out of my drawer. You’re an amazing woman!

A special thanks to Galera Record and to my editor, Ana Lima, as well as the whole team who made this book even better. I am so lucky that I got to publish my first story with a publishing house I admire so much and that makes a difference in so many people’s lives. Definitely the best choice I could’ve made.

To my little group of writers, proofreaders, agents, and people involved in this delightful world of books: Bárbara Morais, Taissa Reis, Dayse Dantas, Fernanda Nia, Babi Dewet, Felipe Castilho, Valéria Alves, Pam Gonçalves, Vitor Martins, and Vitor Castrillo. You are my daily support for venting, complaining, and celebrating, and my life wouldn’t be as wonderful if you weren’t in it.

To the people in the US who have turned this book into a reality for North American readers: First of all, to David Levithan, the person responsible for carrying the Brazilian edition across a hemisphere and bringing it to Scholastic; to my US editor, Orlando Dos Reis, for championing this story, and for his advice on what would sound better in this version; to Larissa Helena, my English translator, for understanding my dorky jokes and making them as funny (or as unfunny) as they are in Brazilian Portuguese; to Josh Berlowitz, Kerianne Steinberg, and all the Scholastic team who worked so hard and were so energetic about this book from the start. You are amazing!

To the friends who inspire me every single day and who helped me, directly or indirectly, while I wrote this story: Thales Souza, Lucas Figueiredo, Marcelle Almeida, Mariana Saadi, and Ariadne Pacheco, for following the same academic path as me and for hearing about this story on Thursdays; Luiza Nunes, the first to hear about the outlines for this idea, on a stone bench at Fiocruz, for being excited about something still so loose; Jéssyca Santiago and Mariana Moraes, who were perhaps more excited about the release of this book than anyone else; Fábio Laranjeira and Jean Amaral, two essential people whom I am fortunate to call my friends; and finally, Ana Cristina Rodrigues—not a day goes by when I don’t feel thankful that you came into my life. If it weren’t for you, I’d hardly be the writer I am today—I’d hardly be a writer, to be completely honest.

To everyone who was willing to talk to me and teach me so much when I went to the clinics during the first drafts of this book: not just the doctors, who helped me with the more technical parts of this book (thank you, Dr. Ana and Dr. Marcelo!), but especially to the patients receiving treatment and the people waiting for their test results in the rapid testing line. I remember some of your names, and others are just images in my mind, but know that, without you, this book wouldn’t have come to life. Thank you for the support, for the smiles, and the will to keep living that each of you displayed. If inspiration could take a form, I’d want it to be the expressions I saw on the faces of every person when they told me life must be lived to the fullest.

And, finally, to the most important person in this entire process: you, the reader. I hope Ian’s, Victor’s, and Henrique’s lives might make some kind of difference, that you may have learned something new, or at least smiled and understood that as hard as the journey can seem at first, at some point, it becomes peaceful and full of amazing moments. And we have our whole lives ahead of us!