ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing a sequel is a very interesting process. I was getting reacquainted with Dewey and Suze at the same time that readers were meeting them for the first time. I am so grateful to the sales reps at Penguin, the Scott O’Dell Award committee, and to booksellers and librarians all over the country whose enthusiasm for The Green Glass Sea gave me the confidence to continue the story.

I spent several weeks in Alamogordo, trying to piece together what it had been like more than sixty years ago. The reference librarians at the public library steered me to the microfilmed rolls of the weekly Alamogordo News, which gave me a feel for the day-to-day life of the town. Everyone at the Tularosa Basin Historical Society went out of their way to help me find photos and oral histories, and Dolores Rodgers was heroic in her efforts to answer my very odd questions about irrigation ditches, drugstores, and landmarks that no longer exist.

Robert Callaway spent hours answering my questions about being a teenager there in 1946, and his stories about school and the salvage yard—and the race to get up to the rocket crash site before the army—gave me insights and details that made it all come alive for me. I gave him a speaking part in the book.

(Note: While historical, scientific, and Hollywood figures mentioned are real, I have otherwise fictionalized the population of my Alamogordo; the buildings, streets, and geographical features are as historically accurate as I could make them.)

I had read about V-2s for a year before I had the chance to go to the White Sands Missile Range Museum and see one. The exhibits and displays there are amazing. Forty miles northeast is the White Sands National Monument, which is my favorite place on earth. I go there every chance I get. At sunset, it’s magic.

Charles N. Brown is a walking encyclopedia of science-fiction history, and I spent several afternoons at his house, listening and scribbling notes. He was generous with his time and with his library, which is a treasure trove beyond compare.

The Wall came out of my experience as a writer at the Exploratorium, the hands-on museum founded by Frank Oppenheimer as a true collaboration of art and science. Working with Pat Murphy, Linda Shore, Ned Kahn, Paul Doherty, Ruth Brown, and Shawn Lani, I learned something new about the world every day, and rediscovered my own curiosity.

My writing sister, Delia Sherman, has the patience of a saint; I sent her chapters out of order, out of context, higgledy-piggledy, and she read them all, with comments and advice and support. Thanks also to Elizabeth Bear for her teapot and its cracked lid; to Emma Bull and Will Shetterly for food and companionship during my writing retreat at Endicott West, outside of Tucson; and to Madeleine Robins for games of darts and glasses of wine when the going got tough.

As always, my undying gratitude to Sharyn November, who is the best editor I have ever worked with. She knew the book I wanted to write, and with vision, skill, and persistence, pushed me until I did. Thank you.