American Panda(74)

The Electric Eighteens, for your advice and encouragement. Class2K18, for your friendship and promotional help. The Kidlit AOC group, for your support and commitment to diversity. The We Need Diverse Books organization, for all the important work you do. Team Krush, you are as supportive as you are talented, and I’m proud to be a part of this loving family. Hugs and Kisses to ChiYA & my Awesome Authors Support Group.

Thank you to the lovely folks who were kind enough to read pages and provide feedback throughout this process, including: Whitley Abell, Christa Heschke, Jen Linnan, Sandy Lu, Myrsini Stephanides, Janine Le, Ella Kennen, Ronni Davis Selzer, Lisa Schunemann, Gracie West, Rachel León, Tamara Mataya, Roselle Lim, Katie McCoach, Naomi Hughes, Kevin Winn, Laura Heffernan, the AYAP Workshop.

Thank you so much, Tong Chen, Youqin Wang, and Jin Zhang, for your help with the pinyin in this novel and for not asking why I had so many phrases about poop. Thank you, Koichiro Ito, for verifying the Japanese.

A huge thank-you to the wonderful librarians, booksellers, bloggers, and teachers out there putting books into the hands of readers who need them. An extra hug to the Chicago indie bookstores who have been so welcoming and supportive! And a special thank-you to Franny Billingsley, who I’m honored to call a friend, and Rachel Strolle, whose love of books is inspiring.

And a loving thank-you to my family: my grandparents, for their love, support, and stories. Dan and Matt, for helping me find the humor in stinky tofu, shrimp oil, and old Chinese songs growing up. Remember how we used to lock ourselves in a room, towels stuffed under the door, whenever Mom and Dad cooked stinky tofu?

Mom and Dad, for supporting my dreams and education. Oh, and thanks for the material. ;) Mom, I’m so grateful this book brought us so close. I don’t know what I’d do without your support and love. Thank you for helping me with this book and for sharing your experiences and thoughts. I’m so happy I know you, really know you, now.

Anthony, there are no words for me to tell you what you mean to me. Thank you for believing in me before I did. For inspiring me. For reading a thousand drafts. For loving Mei like I do. For loving me more than anyone deserves. And of course, thank you for putting a roof over my head and feeding me and all that other important stuff while I typed-typed-typed into the night. You are my home, my hero, and my better half. hip-level wave (It works, people!)