Ruth Hopkins, journalist, activist, and tribal judge, Sisseton-Wahpeton Lake Traverse, read the manuscript, advised on the changes from the Lakota language to Dakota, and gave me comments that were especially valuable. An example: Because Wichapiwin and Hanna cannot communicate verbally, their exchanges take place mostly by gesture. In several instances, I had depicted Wichapiwin pointing with her forefinger. Hopkins wrote, “The Oceti Sakowin (Sioux) consider pointing with one’s finger to be rude. Instead, we point with our lips, or simply motion with our hand.”

To me, this is a perfect example of the adage, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

Alice DeLaCroix provided assistance with sewing details. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley gave me advice on horses. Jim Armstrong was my railroads expert and volunteer cold reader. Anna Dobbin answers my endless tech and grammar questions.

In Mansfield, Missouri, Anna Bradley, assistant director of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum, gave me a tour and graciously answered my many questions.

In regard to all of the above, any errors in the text are my responsibility.

Marsha Hayles has critiqued drafts of all my books, including this one, and almost always responds within a few days—even for an entire novel. Other writer friends held my hand and listened to me whine about this story. I thank everyone at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and We Need Diverse Books for their support, and for the opportunities and challenges of serving on their advisory boards.

Dinah Stevenson pulled my first manuscript from the slush pile in 1997. This is our eighteenth book together, all for Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. I am the most fortunate of writers to have an editorial relationship of such longevity. With this book, as with the others, she guided me to the story I was trying to write all along.

More thanks to the team at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Amanda Acevedo, Lisa DiSarro, Jessica Handelman, Eleanor Hinkle, Anne Hoppe, Catherine Onder, John Sellers, Tara Shanahan. Andrea Miller designed the book’s interior, which I find both attractive and easy to read. Seeing Hanna brought to life by jacket artist Dion MBD, combined with Sharismar Rodriguez’s lovely jacket design, made me weep for joy.

Ginger Knowlton has been my agent for more than twenty years, a relationship I cherish more than I can ever express. Thanks also to the whole team at Curtis Brown, Ltd., for always being in my corner.

My husband, Ben Dobbin, has always allowed me the time and space to write my books. For this one, I needed more of both than ever before, and he gave me those gifts with grace.