Karen Brantley, who became a lifelong friend when we met as new mothers of new babies with incredible needs.
Denise Bykes, whose calm assurances got me through several very difficult times in my life. I kinda miss that pew!
Kimya Moyo, whose wisdom runs deep and whose friendship is precious.
Tanya McKinnon, my feisty friend and agent, who pushed me to reach for ever higher levels of accomplishment and belief in myself.
Elaine Harris and Darlene Hampton, who keep me connected to the straight and narrow through phone calls and laughter.
Greg Jasper… keep on keepin’ on. You are a beacon of light in the darkness.
Jeannie Ng and Valerie Shea—incredible copyeditors. How DO you find all those teeny errors? THANK YOU for being the Marine Corps of Minutia! I bow to your excellence and attention to detail.
Debra Sfetsios-Conover, the designer of this amazing cover. It captures the essence completely. Irene Metaxatos, for making sure the interior looked just as good.
Alex Borbolla, thank you for everything—past and present! Carl-Eric Péan, many thanks for keeping Caitlyn sane and organized! Justin Chanda, thanks for all you do—and you owe me a dinner!
And Michelle Leo (we go waaaay back), thank you for all of it!
And Anne Zafian, Chrissy Noh, Lisa Moraleda, Lauren Hoffman—as well as all the others I do not yet know—without all of you, none of the magic happens. We are a family, and I appreciate you all.
A special shout-out to Bethany Bookin, a magnificent dancer and teacher on wheels!
A very special thanks to the moms and dads and nurses and caregivers and specialists and teachers who took the time to read drafts and dribbles of this book, who told me, vociferously, where I didn’t quite get it right, and kindly helped me to represent children of varying abilities and strengths with respect and dignity and humanity. I do not claim to be an expert on anyone’s situation. I write fiction so that we can all see truth.
All my family and friends who have continued to believe in me and support me.
All the teachers who have struggled and managed and invented and created ways for students to read and learn, even during a worldwide, life-changing, school-disrupting pandemic, while taking care of their own families’ needs. They juggled multiple computers and multiple screens for months—and emerged at the end exhausted and victorious, because learning had happened! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
All the students who love to read, and all the students who hate to read but found one of my books and kept on reading! I thank you for your letters and emails of love and encouragement.
All the librarians who have always managed to create ways for students and teachers to access books and knowledge, including mask-covered, hand-delivered books to student homes at the height of the lockdown. From the little girl who used to check out ten books a week from the library on Kinsman Road in Cleveland, Ohio, I thank you!
To sites like Zoom and Skype and dozens of other platforms that suddenly existed and grew appendages and became what we all needed before we even knew we did, because communication between humans is essential.
I give thanks to God every moment for the gifts and blessings.
And a very special thanks to everyone who kept asking, “So what happened to Melody?” This book is for you!