I need to thank my co-collaborators for their work in helping me bring this book to life. What a joy it has been to brainstorm this ridiculous town and this banana-pants family! It has been a true delight and a growth opportunity to work with each of you.
I’d also like to thank Evie Troutman and Doug Nelson for sharing allllll the dirty details about life with Crohn’s disease. I learned more about poop researching this book than I ever imagined, and I appreciate them for keeping it real with me. I really hope Lia’s story with Crohn’s feels authentic. I know that a lot of people live with tricky bowel conditions and my goal was to show what happily ever after can look like for those folks.
Thank you as well to Elizabeth Perry, Melissa Wiesner, Liz Lincoln and Sara Whitney for your help with the plot and to Becky at Bookcase Media for the edit. My intern, Felicia Perez, has been an incredible support this year.
And you, readers, have been a true bumper crop. You are blue ribbon fans and I cannot wait to hear what you think about Ethan and Lia. Thank you for following me all the way to a fictional small town and back again.