Thank you to Cormac and Maeve. For more than ten years now, you have been my every incentive. Since I was your age, I’ve dreamed of being a writer. It’s a cool gig indeed, but nothing compares to being your mom.

Thank you to Rob Franzmann. His strength, love, and commitment are everything we needed.

And thank you to Banjo, who was committed to sitting beside me as I wrote these pages.

Love and gratitude to the Corrigan, McKay, Ryden, and Franzmann families. Thank you to my parents, John and Bernice, and my brother, John. And to Steve Loy—for more than thirty years, he has encouraged me through every phase of my life, even the awkward ones. This book is the first one I’ve written without talking through characters and plot twists with Anne Glennon. I miss her every day.

My little family is rooted in two communities: Tacoma, Washington, and Somerset, New Jersey. I am grateful for my friends near and far. Especially if we’ve weathered time and distance, please know that I follow and celebrate your triumphs: Rose Abondio, Sara Belyea, Joe Chodl, Sandra Forero Bush, Hannah Garrow, Annie Green, Lynn Hernandez, Lucy and Ruth Iwamoto, Ann Kansfield, Elijah Kaufman, Nicole Martone, Stacy McMillen, Billy Merrell, April Morecraft, Mark Nastus, Sara Nardulli, Ella Nowak, Sherry Riggi, Denise Ryan, Meredith Santowasso, Brian Selander, Nina Stotler, Jeremy Stubbs, Cora Turlish, and Emily and Bryan Weston. Thank you for all the ways you continue to influence me.

I am so incredibly fortunate that my books get to wear Christopher Stengel’s amazing cover designs when they step out into the world. Thank you for the way your amazing talent enhances my writing. Thank you to the entire Scholastic team for providing me with the extraordinary chance to share my work with the world and for showcasing it with such skill.

And, of course, thank you to David Levithan—for providing me with a path to publishing when I was twenty-two, for believing in the immense power of poetry but also showing me the unexpected opportunities of novels. Thank you for standing by me through my questionable mid-twenties and later throwing me the lifeline of writing projects when I was a single mom with two babies and too many bills. Over and over, it’s felt like you’ve saved me. Thank you for giving me the chance to rescue myself.

In the early morning hours, I work on my writing. Then I leave to spend my days with the remarkable students in the Upper School for Girls at Annie Wright Schools. My students are fiercely courageous, steadfastly compassionate, and intelligently adventurous. While none of my characters or storylines are based on our students and their lives, the USG inspires me every day. Thank you especially to Shea Davison and Kamalani Enomoto, who lent their names to this novel, and Nya Zae 1, who provided a dancer’s perspective.