A huge thanks to my kid advisory crew: Miles Rideout, Equem Roël, Remy Roël, and Laura Jayne Grant.

Thanks to the adults, too: Jonas Rideout, David Levithan, Jodi Reamer, Anne Dalton, Kelly O’Neill Levy, Deb Grant, Melanie Levy Fagelson, Maxine Roël, Myrna Gunning, Barbara Stretchberry, Kristi Thom, and Adriane Frye.

Thanks to The JCC in Manhattan for letting me watch swim team practice.

Thanks to Stephanie Rath, the original best friend next door.

And a special thanks to Leif Rideout, who really wanted me to write a book about pandas.