My heart is filled with the people to whom I owe thanks: Judye Groner, who first brought the Heart from Auschwitz to my attention; Luc Cyr at Ad Hoc Films; Julie Guinard, Museum and Collection Coordinator at the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, for all her support and assistance, and for granting permissions to use photos and the messages from the Heart; and Sandy Fainer, who is as patient and kind as her mother, Fania.
None of this would have been possible without the the Vermont College of Fine Arts community, particularly Rita Williams Garcia and Shelley Tanaka, who read drafts of this story when it was fresh from the primordial ooze. Thanks are also due to Caroline Carlson, Gale Jacob, Hannah Moderow, Lori Steel, Kathleen Wilson, and Morgan Zubof, who read versions at various stages. Also, thank you to my workshop group at the 2013 VCFA Novel Writing for Young People Retreat: Rob Costello, Catey Miller, and Amy Kolb Noyes. Heartfelt thanks to Melanie Crowder, who provided daily check-ins during drafting.
I owe special gratitude to Rabbi Don Rossoff, who generously took time to explain variations in Yiddish and Hebrew transliterations as well as the nuances in the Unetaneh Tokef and the Shema, and also reviewed the glossary. Any errors are mine and are not a reflection of his teaching.
Thank you to Janine Le, agent extraordinaire, who believed in this story—and me.
Thanks to everyone at Margaret K. McElderry Books: Karen Wojtyla for loving this story, Annie Nybo for answering frantic emails, Erica Stahler for brilliant and thorough copyediting, and Sonia Chaghatzbanian for giving Fania and Zlatka the perfect cover.
Thank you to Morgan and Noah, who have always believed in me.