I Have Lost My Way(65)

He hears them.

They find each other.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


As with any book, many people pitched in to help with I Have Lost My Way, but I’m not sure it would even exist had Ken Wright, Anna Jarzab, and Michael Bourret not helped me find my way. Ken patiently and humanely held my hand through my crisis (crises) of confidence and several misfires, until I found my own voice again. Anna read an early train wreck of a draft and convinced me that these kids had already burrowed into her heart and that their stories were worth telling and then spent hours (literally) helping me figure out what those stories were. And Michael believed in me when I was unable to believe in myself. I would refer Freya to him if he represented musicians (and if she were, you know, real).

Thank you to everyone at Penguin Young Readers, with special shout-outs to Jen Loja for captaining the ship, to Leila Sales for fixing the words, to Elyse Marshall for spreading the word, to Kristin Gilson for making me sound like I play softball, and to Theresa Evangelista for the stunning jacket. Added hugs and thanks to Erin Berger, Rachel Cone-Gorham, Christina Colangelo, Aneeka Kalia, Emily Romero, Elora Sullivan, Felicity Vallence, Caitlin Whalen, and to all the sales reps who are on the front lines of getting books out there.

Thank you, thank you to my small army of readers who made me think harder, dig deeper, recognize my blind spots, and helped me get ever closer to something resembling truth: Imam Shair Abdul-Mani, Arvin Ahmadi, Libba Bray, Tamara Glenny, Marjorie Ingall, Farah Janjua, Justine Larbalestier, and Jacqueline Woodson.

Thank you to the members of LadySwim? for support, sisterhood, and steam. Thank you to the Brooklyn Mama (and Papa) Brigade for being my hometown family. Thank you to my parents, siblings, and in-laws for being my family family. Special shout-out to my hospice-nurse sister Tamar Schamhart for inspiring the character of Hector. Thank you to Yosef Ayele for being part of my Ethiopian family. Thank you to Isabel Kyriacou for your ferocity. Thank you to Lauren Walters for All The Things. Thank you to Eric Gordon for ten years of this. Thank you to Lauren Abramo, Kieryn Ziegler, and everyone else at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

Thank you to all the booksellers, librarians, and teachers who put these little empathy-delivery devices we call books into readers’ hands. We need you now, more than ever.

Thank you to all the readers, for being large-hearted and curious and willing to enter other people’s experiences in fiction. We need that now, more than ever.

Thank you to Nick, Willa, and Denbele, for inspiring me, constantly, to do better and be better, and for being my fellowship, my family.