Acknowledgments

Thank you to the team at Roaring Brook Press for the incredible support. Thank you to my gifted editor, Connie Hsu, for sharing your brilliance with me, to Noa Wheeler for your sensitive insights, to Megan Abbate for those great pep talks, and to Kylie Byrd and Jennifer Sale for your impeccable attention to detail.

Thank you to my extraordinary agent, Melissa Edwards, for fighting so hard for this book. You are a gem.

Thank you to Boyoun Kim for gracing the cover with such lovely art, and to Christina Dacanay for designing a beautiful book.

Thank you to Sara Polsky for helping me dive deeper into Tillie’s world.

Eternal thanks to Pamela Laskin for guiding me through the early stages of the manuscript.

Thank you to Jenna Werner, Nick Shoda, Rachel Mylan, Gabriel Frye-Behar, Arin Sang-urai, and Kelly Granito for your time and expertise.

Thank you to the only real mermaid I’ve ever met, Tillie Spencer, for sparking this story in my imagination.

Thank you to Lexi Lessaris for all the precious writing hours, and for the gift of your warmth.

Endless gratitude to my high school creative writing teacher, Community High School’s Tracy Anderson. You helped me discover my love of writing and consistently demonstrated a belief in the importance of each student’s voice, including mine. You are everything a teacher should be.

Thank you to Jacob M. Appel, who convinced me to pursue writing and showed me that living a writer’s life is worth it. Your talent and perseverance inspire me.

To my big, beautiful family, near and far, whose love grounds me.

Thank you to Lizzie and Robert Gottlieb for all the advice.

Thank you to my late grandma, Alice Brady, who taught me how to tell a good story.

Thank you to my dad, Ernest P. Young, for the countless hours you’ve spent poring over this and every other manuscript.

Thank you to my mom, M. Brady Mikusko, for supporting me wholeheartedly in any career path I wanted, from early dreams of becoming a botanist/orca specialist/actress to this realized one of writing books, embodying the philosophy of raising a child to follow her heart.

Thank you to my other mom and dad, Margery and David Ross, for the constant encouragement. You are the fan club every person needs!

Thank you to my nephews, Oliver Young and Jacob Young, for allowing me to pick your brains endlessly about what it is to be twelve years old in the world today. You guys are the future we need.

Thank you to my niece, Claudia Maschio, whose exuberance nourishes me.

Thank you to my darling Simone. You are joy.

And, of course, thank you to Jonathan Ross, my love. Let’s never stop swapping drafts and ideas and jokes. Especially the jokes.