They took their time. They had forgotten so much. Slowly, it all came back.
Fate must have been feeling sympathetic for all the time they’d lost. They made a son that night, though it would be some weeks before they knew it, and months before they met him and named him Lazlo—and some years after that before he met his namesake, and his grandmother and ghost half sister, as well as a whole lot of others when the Astral came back and visited Amezrou on its way to begin a new journey in the opposite direction, toward Meliz, the seraph home world, and whatever—and whoever—they might find along the way.
But that’s another story.
the end (or is it?)
Acknowledgements
This marks eight years and six books with the fantastic family at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers! That’s close to three thousand pages of gods and chimaera and moths and wars and young people searching for hope, love, and identity in this world and others. I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who’s helped turn my words into better words and then magicked them into books, my favorite objects in the world. Thank you!
To my editor, Alvina Ling, whose graceful insight helps me find the best possible versions of my stories and characters, and whose calm presence eases the panic—mine, anyway. I hope I don’t cause you too much panic!
Thanks also to Nikki Garcia for multifaceted organization and support; Jessica Shoffel and Siena Koncsol (welcome!) for publicity; Victoria Stapleton and Michelle Campbell for school and library wizardry; Emilie Polster, Jennifer McClelland-Smith, Elena Yip, and the whole marketing team; Sasha Illingworth and Karina Granda for gorgeous design (including the amazing alphabets in this book!); Jen Graham for copyediting; Shawn Foster and the sales team for that all-important selling business; Jackie Engel; and the always amazing boss lady Megan Tingley for everything.
To Hachette Audio—Megan Fitzpatrick, Michele McGonigle, and narrator Steve West, thank you for bringing Strange and Muse so stunningly to life for the listening crowd. They sound so good.
I’ve also been blessed with an amazing second publishing family these eight years. Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, you guys are magic. Thank you, Kate Howard, Vero Norton, Sara Kinsella, Melissa Cox, Lily Cooper, Thorne Ryan, Rachel Khoo, Carolyn Mays, Jamie Hodder-Williams, and Ruth Tross. Big thanks also to Joanne Myler for exquisite cover design, Claudette Morris for production, and Catherine Worsley and Megan Schaffer for sales!
My eternal thanks to my tribe: readers. Thank you for giving my stories a place to live—inside your gorgeous heads. And a special thanks to readers who go the extra mile and give stories life outside their heads, too, by way of recommendations, fandom, art, cosplay, bookstagramming, booktubing, coming to events, and even tattoos. It’s an inspiration to write books for you, and an immense pleasure to see many of you writing your own books and creating in so many other cool ways. We’re all in this together!
To librarians, teachers, booksellers, and all other professional book supporters, literacy champions, and reader-makers, thank you for everything you do. To Angela Carstensen, Julie Benolken, Kathy Marie Burnette, Edi Campbell, Megan Fink, Jenna Friebel, Traci Glass, Scot Smith, Audrey Sumser, and Karen Ginman, aka the 2018 Printz committee, thank you so much for the extraordinary gift of a Printz Honor. It is a highlight of my writing life.
To my agent, Jane Putch: You are family. You’re also, like, the person who attaches the ends of the tightrope from one skyscraper to the next and makes me believe I can make it across, even when I’m barely clinging on by my toes.
To Mom and Pop, you gave me a childhood of books, adventure, freedom, and unwavering love and support, and you never tried to talk me out of this uncertain path. I love you so much, and I’m so lucky to have you.
Alexandra, you’re the best of all possible best friends, and a sparkling soul who makes every day, every conversation, every text exchange unique, funny, unpredictable, and good. I wish you ran the world.
Tone Almhjell, writing kindred spirit, I wish regularly for a teleportation booth (or maybe a teleportation spell, which sounds somehow less risky and terrifying than a machine, because magic never goes wrong…) so that we could write together and hold up sentences like strings of beads to catch the light in café windows in Oslo, Hvar, and wherever else we feel like meeting.
To Robin LaFevers, another writing kindred spirit, thanks for all your help with the brain situation, and being so available for advice and moral support. You’re incredible.
To my cats, thanks a lot for allowing me this tiny corner of my desk for working. It’s so generous of you.
And lastly, to the other sides of my triangle, you two are everything to me. Clementine, sassy ray of sunshine, clever, kind, joyous creature, always singing, never still, soon-to-be-fourth-grade force of nature. You make life bigger, funnier, louder, and more wonderful. Thanks for being my kid! And above all, Jim, my person, my place, thank you for building this life with me, for being my first and last sounding board for all my endeavors, both writing and otherwise, for dreaming the same crazy dreams (which makes them feel less crazy, even when they totally are) and keeping the house full of mangoes and flowers, and making me laugh, and being the most fun, thoughtful, romantic, supportive, wonderful partner anyone could wish for—not to mention really cute and super talented! I love you vastly and forever.