As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow (107)

To Janina and Rae and our heartwarming writing sessions where we laughed more than we wrote. To Sabrina, who welcomed me, a new bébé, into NaNoWriMo and made me feel less alone. To Sebastian, who read the 130k words of pure pain and bad writing but still loved them. To Emma Patricia, Janice Davis, Jenna Miller, and Melody Robinette, you beautiful people are so beautiful. To Elizabeth Unseth, Jess Q. Sutanto, Kate Dylan, Marion Gabillard, Monica Arnaldo, Sarah Mughal, Shana Targosz, S.J. Whitby, Sophie Bianca, Yasmine Jibril, who are Lemon Trees’ defenders. I deserved all the yelling I got. To Naz Kutub, who literally saved Lemon Trees. You really did do that. Without you, this journey would have been very different. A special thank you to Hannah Bahn, who so patiently put up with my questions. Thank you so much, love. Honorable mention goes out to Ayesha Basu. Your mind is as diabolical as mine. We love to see it. When I make it big, I’ll maybe pass your contact info to Ji-min.

To Meredith Tate, who was there from the beginning of this journey. A friend I miss every day in the Starbucks we made ours. Switzerland is lonelier without you.

To S.K. Ali for all that you do for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you for Zayneb and Adam. Thank you for all your kind messages about Lemon Trees. They mean the world!

To Huda Fahmy, who is one of the most supportive people I have ever met. Thank you for being you and for your comics. I have never felt more seen in my life. My heart is so soft.

To Laura Taylor Namey for reading Lemon Trees in record time! Oh my goodness, I was so shook! Thank you for your beautiful words.

To Sabaa Tahir, whose existence makes the world a better place. We’re all so blessed to be able to read your stories. Thank you for extending a bèbè like me a helping hand.

To Hafsah Faizal, who welcomed me in her DMs, answering question after question. Thank you for your patience—for all that you do.

To Zeyn Joukhadar, the very first author I crashed into his DMs. My heart was about to flutter out of my chest with pride at seeing a Syrian author writing about Syria. Thank you for giving me the strength to put Lemon Trees out there.

To Suzanne Collins for the blueprint that is Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Without Everlark, there would be no Lemonblossom.

To David Curtis for giving me the cover of my dreams. Both times! There’s a whole story in those covers alone and I thank you for illustrating Lemon Trees’ soul so beautifully.

The most heartfelt and special thanks to Maia (twitter: @maiahee_) and Juliana (twitter/instagram: @joleanart) for bringing my characters to life in their art. I can’t tell you how emotional it makes me seeing them. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Taylor Swift, for writing “marjorie.” It took hearing it three times for me to realize why it felt so familiar. In those lyrics, I found Salama and Layla. My tears never stop falling every time I hear it. And also for “epiphany,” which broke me. I mean… it’s basically Salama cries.

To the Fray’s “Run for Your Life.” This song came out in 2012 and ten years later a book is published where the lyrics remind readers of two girls’ friendship who lived, loved, and lost together.

A huge thank you to Dyathon, who weaves soundtracks made from magic. All of Salama and Kenan’s scenes were written to “Wander.” It’s Lemonblossom’s song. To Hans Zimmer, who has the power of transforming melancholy, happiness, sadness, loneliness, love, mourning, and belonging into music. To Marika Takeuchi and your heart-wrenching melody “Horizons.” If Lemon Trees were a soundtrack, it would be “Horizons.” I’m sure I’m responsible for more than half of those Spotify and YouTube streams. To HDSounDI, a gorgeous YouTube channel that elicits all sorts of emotions within me that help me write scenes that make me and readers cry. To BigRicePiano and your sweet melodies that accompanied me many rainy afternoons while I drafted and edited. To Hiroyuki Sawano for the Attack on Titan soundtracks. Many of Lemon Trees’ emotional scenes were a product of me listening to the soundtracks over and over again. To ólafur Arnalds and the melancholic beauty of your poetic songs.

To Ezgi Kalay and Ioanna Kastanioti and the solidarity friendship we have formed during this pandemic as students. To many more days of us strolling around Zürich, achieving our dreams and just kicking butt.

To Studio Ghibli, who welcomed a wide-eyed nine-year-old girl into their home, showered her with islands that fly, boys who turn into dragons, and the brave girls who save them. Thank you for my life. Your stories made me who I am.

To Kim Nam-joon, Kim Seok-jin, Min Yoon-gi, Jung Ho-seok, Park Ji-min, Kim Tae-hyung, and Jeon Jung-kook. You might not read this book, but I’ll keep hoping you do. Nam-joon, it’s going to be in two languages you speak, so my luck has gone up a few levels. But if this book does fall into one of your hands, let me just thank you. Thank you for being our purple whale. Your words and songs have comforted me when I was trying to gather myself in the spare moments between editing this book. It’s a heavy one, and you reminded me that I never walk alone. You’ve inspired me, held my hand across continents, and wiped away my tears. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for being the people in Seoul who understand me. We are bulletproof. and <3

And thank you to you, dear reader. However you heard of this book, thank you for reading it. If you passed by it in a bookshop, liked the cover and picked it up, heard about it from a friend or Twitter, or saw me crying about it on main—thank you for reading it. Even if you didn’t buy it, thank you for reading. All I ask is that you spread the word now that you have an idea of what’s happening. Let’s change the world together. And welcome to the Lemon Trees family.