This is the book I always knew I had to write. My own story is not unusual; in fact, maybe it’s your story, too. Maybe you live with someone who makes you feel afraid or physically hurts you. Maybe like me, you find hope and comfort in books and fantasy. So many of us share this upbringing, and yet we’ve been taught to hide it. As Sam thinks in the book, Never talk.
It took me years to find a way into this story. To discover Sam and her sister Caitlin and to find a way to talk about their feelings of isolation and helplessness. And then, while I was designing a card game just for fun, I got an idea: the metaphor of abuse as a game with dangerous, ever-changing rules. It was a way to talk about Sam and Caitlin and their parents—and to show how abuse follows us even when we are physically out of harm’s way—without losing the most critical element of the book.
Because on my first phone call with my editor, Tiff Liao, she asked me that question: What is the most important thing about this book, the heart that you don’t want to lose in revisions? I told her it was the sense of hope. The assurance that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a path out of the forest, a home where every person can experience unconditional love.
If you or someone you know is in a situation like Sam’s, it can be difficult to ask for help. I’ve included resources at GameofFoxandSquirrels.com, as well as support for further conversations about the abuse portrayed in the novel.
If you’re in a dark place, I hope this story resonates with you and gives you a bright, shining Golden Acorn to hold on to. And if you don’t share Sam’s experience with abuse, I hope her story gives you a new way to understand and empathize with those who do.
Thank you so much for reading.