First and foremost, I want to thank my family for all their love and support. An enormous thank you especially to my sister, without whom this book never would have happened. If it weren’t for her talking me through the rough spots, brainstorming with me, and making me “Mars-flavored” smoothies at the drop of a hat, I never could have done it. Thanks also to my mom, who has been my diligent first reader and copy editor for my entire life and still hasn’t disowned me yet.

I also want to thank my best friend and fellow writer, Selenia Paz. She has seen almost as many different versions of this story as my sister, and she remained supportive of the book even when I was positive that it was completely terrible. Once again, without her, this book never would have existed.

Thank you to everyone who has helped made this book a reality. Thanks especially to Ayah Assem for all her support, from coordinating writing sprints to talking me into joining the Camp NaNoWriMo cabin that finally got this book finished; to everyone at Snowy Wings Publishing for providing such an awesome community and home for the series; to Rose Anne Roper and Brenda J. Pierson for their editorial feedback; to Elise Marion and the amazing team at Mosaic Stock, who were able to find fantastic models to match my vision for Isaak and Nadin; and to Najla Qamber, for the beautiful cover design—it came out so much more spectacular than I ever could have hoped, and I couldn’t be happier.

A huge shout-out to my fellow ace authors at The Pack of Aces, for supporting my writing as well as the creative ace community in general: Claudie Arseneault, Joel Cornah, Darcie Little Badger, and especially Lauren Jankowski, who brought us all together in the first place. They are all awesome and you should check out their books, I’m just saying.

And finally, the biggest thanks of all must go to my former students at Lawrence Elementary School. Your love of science—and especially of Mars—is what put the idea for this book in my head in the first place. I wrote this story for all of you, and I can only hope that it’s something you will enjoy. Keep reaching for the stars, because I believe that each of you has the ability to change the world.