Five Summers (30 page)

MY DEEPEST AND MOST HEARTFELT THANKS ARE DUE TO:

Jocelyn Davies, for holding my hand through first-time authorship with limitless patience and cheerleading; Ben Schrank, for his trust and guidance; Rebecca Kilman and everyone else at Razorbill, for their tireless enthusiasm and support; Laura Bernier, for playing matchmaker; Beth Ziemacki and Michael Stearns, for being my pro bono consiglieri; Zoe LaMarche, for being my sounding board and forever favorite person; Ellen Chuse and Gara LaMarche, for their unconditional love (and free babysitting); Lisa Mueller and Ben Iturralde, for adopting me as family long before it was official; all of my friends—especially Emily Barth Isler—for their excitement and encouragement throughout the writing process; Adrianna Muir and Tara Tracy, without whom I would never have made it through adolescence, let alone three summers’ worth of camp; and of course to Jeff and Sam Zorabedian, without whom I would simply never make it, period.