But then Oren was there, holding crackers out to me, chocolate already in place. “Here,” he said. “I got you.”

I knew he meant more than just the s’mores. No matter what happened, he’d always have my back, same as I’d have his.

Smiling at him, I said, “We make a great team, Zombie Boy.”

He grinned and nodded his head, leaning into my shoulder. “Yeah, we sure do, Corpse Girl.”

Acknowledgments

Well. Here I am again—in the enviable place of thanking all the people who helped make my book what it is. I am so, so grateful to have this book out in the world, but it’s bittersweet because part of what shaped it is, as you can probably imagine, personal loss and my own experience with grief.

When I first had the idea, it was supposed to be a companion novel to my debut, Small Medium at Large, a book about a girl who gets hit by lightning and can suddenly hear ghosts. The plan was for this book to be about a boy who would also encounter mostly friendly and meddlesome ghosts, thanks to spending time at his family’s funeral home business. I’d even done some preliminary research, touring the Jewish funeral chapel my father manages.

But then I lost my mom. And a weird and very unexpected thing happened. When we went to the funeral home to make all the arrangements, I felt comforted by what I knew, having had special behind-the-scenes access. I’d already seen the inner workings, thanks to my research, and knew what would happen to my mom between the time of her death and the time of her burial. And while I wasn’t okay with losing her at all, I felt better for knowing how she would be cared for and the details of the rituals that would be performed to honor her. It struck me that not everyone has that prior knowledge, especially kids.

So that’s where this book really came from. And that’s why it’s dedicated to my dad, the man who works tirelessly to look after the families he takes “into his care,” as he often puts it. Dad, your work is important, necessary and appreciated. You do it with a sense of duty, respect and honor, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that you go above and beyond in every way to make people as comfortable as possible in their most difficult times. You are a true mensch.

I hope my mom is watching and knows that this book would not exist without her too. I mean, I would rather have you here with us, Mom, but I think you’ll appreciate the hand you had in making this book what it turned out to be. I know you would have liked it, and don’t worry, I know you and dad are both very proud. I also know you are busy hawking this book wherever you are. I can almost hear the pitch amid the click-clack of the mah-jongg tiles: “Four crack, two bam—have I told you about my daughter’s latest book?”