Thank you to my parents, Mahaila and Chris, for always encouraging and believing in me! Thank you to my best friend in the whole world, Crystal, and to her husband, Mike, and their darling children, Cricket and little Cayden, whose birth I witnessed just two hours after writing part of Chapter 9 of this book! Thank you to the rest of my wonderful family, including but not limited to Chris Jr., Connor, Lorna (and kids!), Molly, the Svesloskys, Sims, and Vertas. And to Grammy (1910–2010) and Opa (1919–2016), who were always so proud of me, and whose voicemails are still saved on my phone to prove it. Thank you, Cheryl, for all your help to our family in so many ways, and thank you, Kim, for just everything! A huge thank-you to Mike Verta for being a great co-parenting partner, and for another phenomenal title and cover.

Thank you to my wonderful illustrator, Maranda Maberry, for bringing my characters to life. Thank you to everyone at PRH, including Phoebe Yeh and the incomparable Barbara Marcus, for your vision and belief in me. Thank you to my talented (and tireless!) editor Emily Easton. I’m so grateful for your partnership on all of our books together, but especially this one! (And for putting up with all my exclamation points!) Thank you to Elizabeth Tardiff, Nicole de las Heras, and Monique Razzouk for all the involved design work in this book, and Alison Kolani, Megan Williams, Samantha Gentry, Amy Bowman, and more, for bringing it all together. All your hard work is so very appreciated. These books are more complex than most realize, and it takes a village.

Thank you to my longtime literary agent, Laura Nolan, for first seeking me out over ten years ago to start writing books to inspire kids in math, and for encouraging me to continue with a younger crowd. Thank you to my literary lawyer, Stephen Breimer, and also to Cathey Lizzio, Pat Brady, and Matt Sherman for your many years of support, and thank you to Michelle Bega at Rogers & Cowan, Mary McCue, and Noreen Herits for helping me get the word out about my books. Thank you to all my friends at Hallmark Channel, including Bill Abbott, Michelle Vicary, and Randy Pope, for working my movies around my crazy book schedule! Thank you to everyone who proofread this book, including my mom, Mahaila McKellar; Mike Scafati; Damon Williams; Mariko Garcia; Ann Shimizu; Joanna Fay; and the outstandingly astute Jonathan Farley. Thank you to the educators who read my very first draft many moons ago and gave feedback, including Laura Chambless, Nancy Frantz, Sue Descher, Mariko Garcia, and Kelsie Provost. Thank you to Dan Degrow for your unwavering support, and also to Tami Cronce, Crista Woolum, and Betsy Shuman and more for giving me insights into today’s classroom experience.

Thank you to my amazing, loving husband, Scott—I love you so much and feel so lucky to be married to you. Thank you to Hunter for being a wonderful teenage stepson (and awesome football player), and for even letting me help you with math sometimes. Finally, thank you to my precious boy, Draco. You have changed me forever, in the best ways possible, and it is my greatest honor to watch you grow and help you thrive. I love you!