acknowledgments

I want to once again thank Margie Wolfe and all of the wonderful staff at Second Story Press for embracing my story and characters.

To Kathryn Cole, your unwavering support and patience is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to Kathryn White, editor extraordinaire, who found everything I missed and helped me give my characters some much needed balance. And I really enjoyed the fact that you took the time to comment on all of the words and phrases that you liked in the novel as well as those you felt needed some work. Everyone likes to read the compliments along with the constructive criticism!

To Jeffrey Canton who describes himself as a “storyteller, spoken word artist, bookseller, educator, writer, reader, and children’s literature fiend,” your insights on the manuscript were invaluable, particularly those regarding proper representation of the LGBTQ+ community.

Thanks to the Ontario Arts Council for continuing to support authors through funding initiatives such as the Writers’ Reserve Grant.

And finally, to all of the young people (some of whom are not so very young anymore!) who have shared their lives and stories with me over the years. I admire your strength and courage in navigating a world that still provides more challenges than it should. I pray that someday each and every one of you can feel safe and accepted by everyone you meet as you travel your individual pathways.