A few years ago, I took a guided walking tour of Revolutionary-era New York with Karen Quinones. Three hours later, I had a new friend. Karen, it’s wonderful to have someone to talk bathing machines and bundling with. Thank you for answering my questions, and for reading an early draft and providing your feedback. Kyle Dalton also read an early draft and provided valuable insight into the clothing, historical, and nautical details of the era. My cocked hat’s off to you, Kyle. Mahalo to world-class free-diver Mandy Sumner for shedding light on diving and the zone of neutral buoyancy, aka Frannie’s seventh fathom. Majelissa Sa Carvalho, Carolina Farfan Namen, and Valerie Congdon fielded my questions about Spain and France. Gracias, merci, and thank you!

My research took me to quite a few institutions. At the following ones in particular, I discovered rich historical collections and staff who went out of their way to help me: the New-York Historical Society, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, Fraunces Tavern Museum, and Charleston Museum. Thanks also to the Historical Novel Society for providing a welcoming place for a first-time historical novelist to land.

I delved into primary source documents in my research as much as I could, but I also ended up reading more than sixty books on the American Revolution, covering everything from foods to fashions to social customs, not to mention the texts that focused on the war itself. A few of these books were especially helpful and never far from reach: New York City During the War for Independence by Oscar Theodore Barck, Jr., PhD; Through Colonial Doorways by Anne Hollingsworth Wharton; Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick; Revolution on the Hudson by George C. Daughan; Scars of Independence by Holger Hoock; Washington’s Spies by Alexander Rose; George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger; Narratives of the American Revolution, edited by Hugh F. Rankin; The Two Spies by Morton Pennypacker; To Be Useful to the World: Women in Revolutionary America 1740–1790 by Joan R. Gundersen; Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence and First Generations: Women in Colonial America, both by Carol Berkin. Thank you to all the authors and historians above; your books provided the winds that filled this story’s sails.

Only another writer can truly relate to a writer. Luckily for me, I have incredible writing friends with whom I could share the journey of creating this book. Kim Turrisi, Lorin Oberweger, Katy Longshore, Talia Vance, Donna Cooner, Kristen Held, Beth Hull, Bret Ballou, Lucien Nanton, Kim Liggett, Tamara Ireland Stone, Lia Keyes, and Trish Doller: you kept me smiling when I was wandering and brought me back to the path. Susan Dennard, Kim Liggett, Martha Brokenbrough, and Jessica Spotswood, I am so honored to have your words of support for Rebel Spy.

Fritz and Phyllis Grupe, thank you for your boundless wisdom, kindness, and flexibility; I truly have enjoyed the ride. Mustafa Cochinwalla and Lisa Parris surprised me with a trip to “the room where it happened,” and I’m forever grateful. Thank you also to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for being such a pillar in my writing life, from the early days to now.