Right now, many people still think it’s okay to bully people who weigh more than they do. My hope is that Starfish will change people’s attitudes and that, one day, no one will be bullied because of their size or for any reason. But until that day comes, know that no matter your size or who you are, you are lovable and deserve for people to treat you like you’re a valuable person. Because you are.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My dream of becoming a children’s book writer came true with Starfish, and I have a lot of people to thank for their help along the way. You might recognize some of these names. I named characters after them as a way to honor them.

• God, for giving me the talent of writing so my voice can be heard

• Three very supportive people for all their prayers for me to get this book written, to find an agent, and to find just the right editor at the perfect house for me: my mom, Minnie; Richard Kiser; and Jeff Harlow

• The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators for all their support of, and resources and opportunities for, writers and illustrators. Find out more about SCBWI at scbwi.org.

• The Highlights Foundation for the amazing workshops that helped me hone my skills: the Writers Workshop in Chautauqua; the Whole Novel workshop with Stephen Roxburgh; Novels in Verse workshop with Sonya Sones, Virginia Euwer Wolff, and Linda Oatman High; and the Master in Voice workshop with Patricia Lee Gauch. Find out more about the Highlights Foundation at highlightsfoundation.org.

• Stephen Roxburgh, former president of Books for Young Readers at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, who was the first to tell me I had what it took to write for children

• Author Sonya Sones, for becoming a true mentor and friend. Starfish came to me in free verse poems, but I’d never seen a book in a library or store written in free verse. So I kept trying to write Starfish in prose. Then, one day at a bookstore, I saw Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy. The title drew me to it. I opened it and read the first page. Sonya had written it in free verse. Not only is it one of my favorite books of all time, but Sonya opened a door for me that I never knew existed. It changed my life and my world.

• Patricia Lee Gauch, former editorial director of Philomel Books, for so freely sharing her years of wisdom, including to “go there,” to write what’s hard to even talk about

• My agent, Liza Fleissig, of Liza Royce Agency, LLC, for believing not only in my writing but also in me