Making fictional characters feel real is a job that starts in an author’s (sometimes disturbed) imagination, but involves so many other smart, passionate people. I have been very lucky indeed to work with the enthusiastic team at Imprint. Thank you to my editors, Erin Stein and Nicole Otto, for your excellent suggestions and the care you took with this manuscript. I had so much fun collaborating and editing with both of you.
To Connie Gabbert and Natalie C. Sousa, thank you for designing such a striking cover that perfectly captures Tabby’s infamous gaze. Thanks are also in order for the rest of the Imprint team—Jessica Chung, Carolyn Bull, John Morgan, and Weslie Turner. To Dawn Ryan and Avia Perez in managing editorial, Kerry Johnson for her copyediting magic, and Raymond Ernesto Colón in production. To the Fierce Reads team for your marketing and publicity efforts. To Katy Robitzski and the Macmillan audio team.
Thanks to my magical superagent, Hillary Jacobson, for believing in this book and in all of my writing, and to Josie Freedman and Randie Adler at ICM for their hard work on the film side.
Thank you to Kathleen Rushall for your support, encouragement, and guidance, and to Taryn Fagerness for handling the foreign rights side of things.
Most writers would be nowhere without their writer friends, aka the only people who truly understand the roller coaster that is publishing. So much love is owed to all of mine. Eternal hugs (and bags of all-dressed chips that hopefully don’t explode) to Emily Martin, who is an utterly brilliant critique partner and an even better friend. To Samantha Joyce, for believing that I can do great things and being there for me when I’m down—always with the best advice and panda GIFs. To Marci Lyn Curtis for our hilarious and often questionable DM chats that shall never see the light of day. To Darcy Woods for our marathon phone calls (#bubblesmakeitbetter) and Erika David for both writerly support and SOMA. To the talented, inspiring members of the debut groups Sweet Sixteens and Sixteen to Read—we’re still on this ride together four years later, and I respect and adore you all more with each passing year.
To everyone who read early drafts of this book and offered encouragement and support—I love you all.
Being a writer means a lot of time spent alone, which requires an incredibly understanding family. I may be biased, but I have the best one. My parents, Denis and Lucy Burns, knew I was meant to be a writer and never failed to encourage my creativity. Now that I’m a parent, too, I can’t thank them enough for all they did to shape me into the person I am now. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for letting me grow up seeing my massive ambitions as balloons—buoyed by hope and optimism—and not as anchors. Dad, I like to think I inherited (some of) your work ethic, and Mom, I know I got my fair share of your fun-loving spirit. (Oh, and I feel like in every book acknowledgments, I have to say a word of thanks for all the leftovers and groceries you guys still bring me.)
My sister, Erin Shakes, is also my BFF, and continually supports me in everything I do. Thanks for the world’s longest Messenger conversation (sorry to our husbands), for enabling my purse purchases, and always being up for a Sephora trip or dinner with bottle(s) of wine. Thank you to Jermaine Shakes for being an eternally positive and upbeat presence, and to Fiona for her adorable royal waves.
To all of the Flynns, thanks for reading and recommending my book babies so enthusiastically. To my in-laws, Jim and Doreen, for always being interested in what’s happening in book world and celebrating my good news. To my sisters-in-law, Suzanne and Kelly, thank you for making the time to read and tell friends about your book nieces.
Thank you to my extended family—aunts, uncles, cousins—for your support, with special hugs to Aunt Linda, Uncle Tom, and Aunt Pat. And to those no longer with me in person, but there in spirit: I know Grandma Gibb (Honeybee) and Grandma Burns are watching out for me, and I continue to feel their presence in my life.
To my network of girlfriends, both old and new, thank you for being exactly the kind of independent, inspiring women I want to surround myself with. And as always, to the RBF ladies for too many laughs and DC jokes.
To the person who puts up with me on a daily basis and has been there since before I sent my first query—my husband, Steve. Thanks for letting my head live in the clouds part of the time, for making space for my big dreams, and for talking me through lots of mental roadblocks. To my babies, Astrid and Cullen—you’re too young to read this book (yet), but your brilliant, effervescent little spirits motivate me every single day. Astrid likes to say “I love our family.” I do, too, more than anything.
To coffee, quite simply, for everything. Aside from my husband, you’re my greatest love story.
To you—readers, bloggers, teachers, librarians, booksellers—your passion makes the writing community what it is, and I’m endlessly grateful to be part of it.
Lastly, I want to send love to my inspiration: teenage girls. To the Tabbys, Elles, Bridgets, Lous, and Kylas. To every girl who has ever felt judged, used, or misunderstood; who has ever felt too invisible or too seen. I hear your voices, and for what it’s worth, I believe in you and your ability to do great things. I wrote this book, and will continue to write, for you.