The Summer We Fell (The Summer, #1)(94)

Thanks to the editing gurus: Sali Benbow-Powers, KM Golland, and Julie Deaton, and all the other people who helped get this book off my laptop and into the world: Christine Estevez, Valentine PR, Lori Jackson, Samantha Brentmoor, and every person who’s shouted their encouragement on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

The bike incident in this book was actually somewhat autobiographical. When I was in middle school, a group of guys grabbed me through the open window of a car in broad daylight and tried to pull me off my bike. I ran and hid until they were gone, and I never told a soul because I was certain I’d somehow be blamed for it and thought I might be at fault. Much later, working as a child therapist, I’d discover just how often kids kept far more traumatic events to themselves because they thought, perhaps, they were at fault and knew telling would only make things worse—which it often did.

So for everyone out there who, like Juliet, suffered something terrible in silence out of self-preservation…I’m so sorry that happened.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Elizabeth O'Roark spent many years as a medical writer before publishing her first novel in 2013. She holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Texas, and a master’s degree from Notre Dame. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her three children. Join her book group, Elizabeth O’Roark Books, on Facebook for updates, book talk and lots of complaints about her children.