Maria D. Laso (whose nickname was Mari Lou) was my wife for the last twenty-six years of her life. This lovely book is her legacy.

Mari Lou loved to read at an early age. She read the classics throughout high school, and her strong vocabulary helped prepare her for a copyediting career in newspapers. But she always loved reading children’s books and someday hoped to write one.

She eventually started creating clever picture books and short stories. She mixed wordplay with life lessons, but her priority was a middle grade novel with the working title The Morning Come. She spent months sketching out the story, which centered on a young girl nicknamed Possum in the Deep South in 1932 during the Great Depression. Mari Lou researched that time and place extensively and began to flesh out her characters: Daddy, Miss Arthington, Tully, June May, but most of all LizBetty, “otherwise known as Possum.” In Possum, Mari Lou found a kindred spirit, a feisty girl who spoke her mind, had a wicked sense of humor, was fiercely loyal to her friends and family, and didn’t suffer fools gladly—which come to think of it, sounds just like my wife.

As I would read the drafts of her story month by month, year by year, I marveled that this had all sprung from Mari Lou’s far-reaching imagination. The setting and adventures were nothing like her own childhood, so she was truly letting her mind run free. She felt compelled to take Possum through these encounters en route to learning about life and love.

Mari Lou worked on this story for almost a decade. At about the same time she was close to finishing the book, she grew seriously ill. As her strength and focus weakened, she managed to complete her final edits with the loving, devoted help of friend and fellow writer Dawne Knobbe, who got to know the story and characters almost as well as Mari Lou did.

Mari Lou passed away in September 2015, but she took comfort in knowing that her wonderful story would be published and read by young people of all ages. I am so proud of what she accomplished.

It is sad that Mari Lou won’t be able to create further amazing adventures, but I know that she would hope that Possum’s endearing and enduring spirit will inspire others to create adventures of their own.

—Stephen Elders