As it turns out, every horrible thing people say about writing a second book is actually very true. So I have to give a huge shout-out to my wonderful agent, Michelle Wolfson, for her professional-grade cheerleading skills. Even when things felt hopeless and deadlines seemed utterly out of reach, you told me I could do it, and actually made me believe it. Amy Stapp, you get me and my stories, and I’m glad fate and chance and luck (and Michelle) brought us together to create these swoony book-shaped things! Thank you for not telling me just how horrible the first unfinished draft of this book was. I definitely knew. And I’m so glad you and Michelle saw past that, and waited to see what I turned that ridiculous mess into. The two of you are my dream team.

A huge thank-you to Daniela and Seth for another wonderful cover design, and to my amazing publisher, Kathleen Doherty, and the whole Tor Teen team, who have supported me and my book babies in an amazing way. I am immensely grateful to be part of the Tor Teen family.

Much love to all of the amazing author friends, writers, and readers who helped push me through: all of the Electric Eighteens and Book 2 Struggle Bussers who were always quick with sympathy and support; SisTOR Amber Lynn Natusch, for helping me to brainstorm on a whim while our fearless leader was on leave; my wonderful CP, Jenn Nguyen, who was always ready to commiserate with me; and Lara Willard, who is always just a message away with brainstorming help. A huge thank-you to my very early beta readers, Courtney and Arden Kurhayez and Simone Nicole, who happily waded through a truly rough draft in just a few days. The bookish community is truly one of a kind, and I’m so thankful to have met so many wonderful and supportive people while going on this strange journey as an author. Shout-out to my amazing street team, and to all of the book bloggers, booksellers, librarians, and readers who supported my debut and made me want to write this second book that much more.

When Summer Ends is the first book I’ve written since becoming a mom, and so I have to give a huge hug to my sweet little Rory, who gave up some Momma time during hectic drafting deadlines and provided extra snuggles when I was feeling stressed. And I literally couldn’t have written this book without all of the extra help from my wonderful husband, Josh, who supports every ridiculous dream I have, and my amazing parents, who pitched in to give me more writing time.