BooksBarbecue
Back The Other Side of Perfect
Chapters (45)
  1. Dedication
  2. March
  3. PROLOGUE
  4. November
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. December
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. January
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. February
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. March
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  43. Acknowledgments
  44. Discover More
  45. About the Author

So I extended my right arm, and then my left. Then I knelt into a deep curtsy, slowly lowering my head.

Acknowledgments

The biggest thanks in the world to everyone who helped turn The Other Side of Perfect into a book and to everyone who read it.

Allie Levick, who has exceeded all expectations I ever had for a literary agent: Thank you for loving this story from the beginning, for helping me tell it, and for your endless encouragement and expertise. Alex Hightower, editor extraordinaire: Thank you for your incredible revision notes that always made me dig deeper, for your kind, thoughtful guidance, and for being an unwavering champion for this book. So grateful to be part of this dream team!

Thank you to the amazing people at Poppy and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for giving Alina such a good home: Farrin Jacobs, Jen Graham, cover designer Jenny Kimura, cover artist Anne Pomel, and the rest of the incredible team. I can’t thank you enough!

To foreign rights agents Cecilia de la Campa and Alessandra Birch: Thank you for all the wonderful work you’ve done to give Alina’s story a wider reach. To fantastic film agents Mary Pender and Olivia Fanaro: I’ve loved all of our conversations about this book. Thank you for your insight and dedication!

A huge thank-you also goes to my authenticity and sensitivity readers: Phil Chan, author of Final Bow for Yellowface, thank you for that incredible book and for your generosity in reading, critiquing, and discussing The Other Side of Perfect with me. For anyone who wants to learn more about racism, anti-racism, and the current anti-racist work being done in ballet, read the book and visit the website: yellowface.org. Thank you also to Sonora Reyes and Ravi Teixeira—your help was invaluable.

I’m also so grateful for the wonderful friends who read Alina’s story at various stages and gave me both excellent feedback and much-needed encouragement: Hillary Bliss (30FT superstar), Asmaa Ghonim, Kate Peters, and Casey Wilson (who has read so many versions of this book, I can’t thank her enough).

Finally, thank you to my family—Andrew Wilson, Mark, Jean, Adam, Natania, Hiro, and Ronin Turk—not just for reading and supporting me and my work throughout the years, but for being the best people in the world.

Discover More

Discover Your Next Great Read

Get sneak peeks, book recommendations, and news about your favorite authors.

Tap here to learn more.

Little Brown Young Readers logo

Bring the YA (book) party to your inbox with NOVL:

theNOVL.com/enewsletter

Booked all week.

theNOVL.com

Instagram.com/TheNovl

Twitter.com/TheNovl

Facebook.com/TheNovl

About the Author

image

Barb Colombo