Thank you to …
Mary Colgan, my wonderful editor, for seeing the potential in this story and knowing exactly what had to be done to realize it,
John Rudolph, my agent, for being a tireless advocate for this book and for me throughout the process,
Jaime Zollars for her beautiful cover illustration, and Barbara Grzeslo for the fine book design,
Kerry McManus, Toni Willis, Sue Cole, and all the good people at Boyds Mills Press who touched this book in some way,
Christian Dahlager, Alison Nowak, Jenny Lock, Larina Alton, Eric Jensen, and Christopher Zumski Finke for being so generous with their time and insight as they read early versions of this story,
My teachers throughout the years, but especially James C. Schaap, for mentoring me and providing words of encouragement exactly when I needed to hear them, and Luanne Goslinga, for urging me, when I was a high school freshman, to name aloud my dream of writing a novel someday,
My parents, Jim and Sue DeYoung, for reading to me when I was young,
And to Sarah, of course, for being my toughest critic, my biggest fan, and my partner in life and love and parenthood.