Thank you to the wonderful teams that made everything possible, especially Hannah Allaman, Seale Ballenger, Phil Buchanan, Esther Cajahuaringa, Jody Corbett, Siena Koncsol, Melissa Lee, Annie McDonnell, Emily Meehan, Christie Michel, Clare Perret, Simón Prades, Marisa Russell, Victoria Stapleton, Neil Swaab, Hallie Tibbetts, and Megan Tingley.

To my amazing film agent, Mary Pender-Coplan, and everyone at UTA: Thank you for believing in this story.

There are so many people who have helped, motivated, and inspired me, in ways both big and small. I am forever grateful to Jacky Carrasco, Frida Quevedo, Paulina Reynoso, Vanessa Castillo, Bianca Guilbert, Valeria Mayor, Daniela Morales, Victoria Gies, Sarah Ellwood, Lucy Boyko, Dani Fayaaz, Elizabeth Grant, Brittney Clendenan, Lauren Lawson, Taylor Steele, Renee Cervantes, Gaby Cruz, Prerna Ramaswamy, Mikyla Kay, and Lindsay Holmgren.

Karla Gutiérrez, I am so grateful to have you by my side even after all these years. Matt La Placa, thank you for listening to my endless rants, for long walks and patio drinks, and for making sure I ate real food every once in a while. Thank you to Sarah Devine, one of the first readers of this story, who tirelessly believed one day the world was going to read my work. To Luis Ernesto Guerra, who believed in me before even I believed in myself: Thank you for taking seven-year-old me seriously, for reading my stories even when they sucked, and for always thinking I could do it.

I’m so fortunate to have met so many wonderful authors and publishing professionals throughout this long, wild journey. Special thanks to Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Lane Clarke, Elora Cook, Kess Costales, Jennifer Dugan, Francesca Flores, Ayana Gray, June Hur, Peter Lopez, Yamile Saied Méndez, Aida Salazar, Sarena and Sasha Nanua, Kathleen Nishimoto, Beth Phelan, Adam Sass, Liselle Sambury, Crystal Smith, Louisa Onomé, Amélie Wen Zhao, and Julian Winters.

And to all the readers who see a piece of themselves or their lives in this story: I see you, I believe in you, and your dreams matter.

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A Sneak Peek of "Brighter Than the Sun"

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AVAILABLE MARCH 2023

1

WHEN MY PARENTS PICKED OUT MY NAME, I don’t think it even crossed their minds that they would be cursing me for life. Soledad—solitude. Or, to give them some credit, María de la Soledad, because I was unlucky enough to be born on December 18, the feast of Our Lady of Solitude.