Thank you to my editor, Sarah McCabe. Working with you has been a dream. You helped bring out the best in this book, and you did so in a way that always made me feel supported and heard. I adore your attention to detail and respect for the process of getting everything just right.

Thank you so much to everyone at Simon & Schuster who has made this book possible. I know that as I write this, I haven’t met all of you yet, but I am endlessly thankful for everything you are doing behind the scenes to create my book and to get it into the hands of readers. My deepest gratitude to Justin Chanda, Karen Wojtyla, Anne Zafian, Anum Shafqat, Emma Saska, and Tatyana Rosalia, and also to Penina Lopez, Cecilia Gray, and Kayley Hoffman. And to Chrissy Noh, Caitlin Sweeny, Alissa Rashid, Lisa Quach, Bezi Yohannes, Perla Gil, Remi Moon, Amelia Johnson, James Akinaka, Saleena Nival, Elizabeth Huang, Trey Glickman, Shannon Pender, Amy Lavigne, Julia Ashley Romero, Lisa Moraleda, Nicole Russo, and Maryam Ahmad. A million thank-yous also to Christina Pecorale and her sales team and Michelle Leo and her education/library team.

Thank you to the incredibly talented Dominique Mayer and Michael McCartney for the gorgeous cover illustration and design that will be the reason many people pick up this book. Also to Robert Lazzarreti and Michael McCartney for the map illustration and design, and to Aleksandra Simonović for the emblem illustrations. Sarah and Michael, I truly appreciated our collaboration on all the visual elements of the book; thank you both for your incredible vision and for being so flexible with my pickiness and changes in direction.

Thank you to my sister, Devorah. Over the long journey of writing this book, you have been on your own journey, from your graduation and the start of your career to a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and remission. And through it all, you have been my best and most constant source of support and feedback. You were still a toddler when I moved out of the house, and I am so thankful that so many years later, this book helped bring us closer as sisters. (And Azzie, I love you, too.)

Thank you to Michal Schick, Jenn Levine, and A.C. Huntley, the best writing buddies/hype team/group chat an author could ask for. Had we not started our accountability write-ins during lockdown, I don’t think this book would exist. You were there every step of the way through the ups and downs, and you truly are my writing sisters––and the best book aunts ever!