I am grateful beyond measure for my incredible agent, Rena Rossner, for loving this manuscript even in its earliest drafts and for working so hard to get it right. Thank you, most of all, for believing in me. Thanks to editor extraordinaire, Liz Szabla, for working tirelessly with me, for poring over the verse, for taking such incredible care of Ari and his friends, and for honoring me as a writer all the way through the process. It is a privilege to work with you. Thanks to the whole team at Feiwel & Friends, Anna Poon, publicist Kelsey Marrujo, and creative director Rich Deas. Thanks to production editor Lindsay Wagner and production manager Kim Waymer. Thanks to the amazing cover artist Chris Sheban for capturing the spirit of the book! Of course, thank you to Jean Feiwel for your warmth and your vision, for making me feel so at home at F&F. Thanks to Matt de la Peña for shaking up my life in the best way, for all the years of support, guidance, and friendship.

Thank you to the teachers, librarians, and educators out there who put books in the hands of kids who need them and for standing up for all children every day and teaching them they have a place in this world no matter what.

Thanks to those educators in the San Diego State University MFA program and beyond who believed in me as a writer and taught me that my words matter—Sandra Alcosser, Marilyn Chin, Glover Davis, and so many others. Thank you to my colleagues and students at San Diego City College and, of course, the English Center, who I have the privilege of working with side by side every day. You inspire me endlessly.

An immense thank you to my unbelievable community of deep friends and family who believe in me all the way.

Thank you to my writing people, writers whose love knows no bounds at all—Heather Eudy, Cali Linfor, Sabrina Youmans, and Nancy Cary—for reading every version of this manuscript, and for so many days and nights of hard questions, laughing, and crying. Thank you to my editor/writer friends—Crystal Ellefsen, Alan Traylor, and Adam Heine—for your enthusiasm and love for this book. Thank you also to the incredible community of writers I have grown with over this past year—Rena’s Renegades, my debut group; the NovelNineteens; the #JPStreetteam; #KIDSNEEDMENTORS; and the unbelievable world of Middle Grade and YA authors who care so much for kids and for one another. You bring me so much hope. Thank you for your friendship.

Thank you to all the wise sages in my life—Bob; Maggie; Emmett; Randall; my brother, Steve; Tuesday Morning crew; and so many others—who keep me on the right path.