Acknowledgments

I’m delighted to be writing acknowledgments for the second time. First, I’d like to thank a few people I forgot to mention in the first book. Thank you to Nadia Husain, my former roommate, who gave me so much of the wonderful Chicago detail. I owe you a scoop from Oberweis. Thank you also to Mary Benedetto for your support and for reading so many of the early drafts of both books. I’d also like to thank many of the usual suspects like my mom; my boyfriend, Kyle; my brother, Alejandro; Mimi; Chris; Jessica; Elias; and Elanna. I love you all. Big shout-out to my friends Isabel, Amol, Kellie, Mariel, Eda, and Erika, too.

I’d also like to thank a few people involved in the creation of this book. Thank you to my agent, Linda Pratt, and my great editorial team, Connie Hsu and Megan Abbate; there would be no book without you. A huge thank-you to Kristie Radwilowicz for her wonderful collaboration on the cover. Her charming, playful lettering makes me smile every time I see it. Thank you also to everyone at Roaring Brook Press including Jennifer Besser, Elizabeth Holden Clark, and Aimee Fleck. I have to also thank the marketing and publicity teams at Macmillan, especially Lucy Del Priore, Katie Halata, Melissa Croce, and Mary Van Akin. Thank you for championing this book and getting it into the hands of educators and librarians. You are rock stars!

Finally, I’d like to thank the people who have supported the first book and made the second book possible. These are the educators, the readers, SCBWI, and the bloggers. Knowing that you loved the first book gave me the confidence to write another Stella. For that, I’m truly grateful.

My family and me at the beach in Mexico.

Me at age 9