This is my first book and I have many wonderful people to thank for their unwavering guidance and support:
To Susan Hawk, my superstar agent at The Bent Agency. You believed in me and Avalon when we weren’t quite ready for the world yet. You absolutely changed my life and I will be forever grateful. Huge thanks to you and Jenny Bent.
To Anna Roberto, my insightful editor at Feiwel and Friends, for adopting me and making me feel so at home. To Lauren Burniac, for championing the book in the first place. And to Jean Feiwel and the awesome team at Macmillan, including Starr Baer, Liz Dresner, Veronica Ambrose, and Risa Rodil.
To my first enthusiastic young readers: Karyn Davis, Will Edwards, Kate Hirshberg, Jack Healey, and Ruby Wenzlaff. To Ronna Anderson’s fourth-grade class at Lumpkin County Elementary School, Dahlonega, Georgia; to Julie Zeldin’s fifth-grade class at Odyssey Charter School, Altadena, California; and to Gemma Hawksworth’s Year Three Class at St Luke’s Halsall Church of England Primary School, Crosby, England—it was so much fun to share early drafts with you. And to Caroline Rairigh, who proved to me once and for all that Avalon was indeed a fifth grader!
To my cool nieces, nephews, and assorted god-kids who activate my playful heart and make me so proud: Gemma, Karyn, Will, Kathryn, Sam, Sierra, Aubrey, Luke, Jake, Matty, and Duncan. I love you guys.
To Heather Place, Joy Brown, Margaret Anne Smith, and Lori Bertazzon for your support and friendship every step of the way. And to Kate McLaughlin, my rockstar writing partner and dear friend.
To Graham Edwards for always reading fast and encouraging me to keep going, and to Kevin Gregg for coaching me when I really needed it most!
Special thanks to my extremely supportive family: my aunts, uncles, and cousins; my grandmother, Helen Paris; my sisters, Lisa Davis and Sally Edwards; and my parents, Guy and Anita Middleton, to whom this book is dedicated.
Lastly, to my first and favorite reader, my husband, Pete. Twenty feet to the sky, moonpal.