When Jack looks, he sees a girl getting out of a blue car.

Not just a girl. Ava.

“Shit,” he whispers. He crouches down, keeping his eyes on the window. She comes toward the house, kicking her way through the snowdrifts to the shoveled path. He motions for Matty to get down, but Matty just stands there, looking out.

Matty smiles. Then he waves.

Her steps crunch on packed snow, then halt. Jack sinks low and waits. Hushed silence. Strangely quiet. Then she knocks.

He slinks behind the couch. Matty grins at the window.

“Get down,” Jack hisses.

The next thing he knows, Matty has the door open. Jack straightens from behind the couch, flushing, and walks to the door. She’s no more than two feet from him. Her cheeks are slapped red from the cold. On her head she wears a knit hat, and from it her hair scatters out in a flyaway mess. Her coat falls to just above her knees and is made of battered wool, a juniper green with tarnished brass buttons. It looks like some relic from World War II. These details he sees in a haze. She smells like something warm: nutmeg or ginger.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hi.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

One of the happiest pleasures of writing What Beauty There Is is reaching the point where I can at last say thank you.

So thank you to all those readers who have seen something of yourselves in Ava, and in Jack and Matty, who have opened your minds and hearts to their experience. The story matters because of you, and for this I am blessed.

Special thanks to Lindsay Auld of Writers House, who found What Beauty There Is in her slush pile and saw potential, who championed my work with tireless enthusiasm and skill. I’m grateful to call Lindsay my agent.

Many thanks, also, to my editor and publisher, Jennifer Besser, at Roaring Brook Press. I am reminded of my elated response when I learned Jen had requested the book: “Jen Besser! Is this asking too much of the universe?” Jen has been as fantastic an editor as I imagined she’d be, and more.

My sincere appreciation goes to the many souls at Macmillan and Roaring Brook Press who have worked without fanfare behind the scenes. Mary Van Akin, I won the lottery with your publicity expertise. Elizabeth Clark and Sara Wood, the cover is gorgeous, and, Luisa Beguiristaín, you’ve guided this novice through thick and thin with talent and kindness. My highest praise goes to the team of bighearted heroes at Macmillan Children’s, with gratitude to Morgan Kane, Katie Quinn, Kenya Baker, Gabriella Salpeter, and Kristen Luby.

And thank you to the many editors and translators—with special thanks to Anthea Townsend at Random House UK—who have worked to bring What Beauty There Is to a worldwide audience. I appreciate your efforts. Greatly.