Nothing Special (22 page)

After the game, in the good-game line, Ngelale just said, “Go Badgers.”

I don't know. What about Gators? We'll see…

I'm not going to worry about college now. Right now I'm thinking of my little brother, Andrew. Tonight, right out there on the beach, he sang
Barbara
Ann
like a beautiful canary while the old ladies screamed. Stan, my dad's dad, was there. Tovi, my cousin, cheered with the ladies.

I play football. Andrew sings songs.

Tovi plays tennis. Stan wants us all to be in love.

I think we'll do it. I think we can.

It's nothing special, Aleah.

It's just what we do.

We're just Reinsteins. That's all.

Welcome home.

I love you,

Felton

First, let me thank my agent, Jim McCarthy, for his help over what feels like decades. I would have no books without him. Second, Leah Hultenschmidt, my editor at Sourcebooks, is awesome. She is so smart and sweet and still capable of rattling my cage when I get stuck. Perfect! Thank you, Leah. Really, thanks to everybody at Sourcebooks. I love you all. Third, thanks, Sam Osterhout, for constant inspiration. Fourth, thanks to my pals at Minnesota State, Mankato, for providing the perfect climate. Fifth, thanks to my mom, Donna Herbach, for many (many!) decades of support. Sixth, thank you, Stephanie Wilbur Ash, the love of my life, for so much it makes me dizzy. Finally, thanks to teachers, librarians, and parents who care enough about the world that they get books into teens' hands. We all owe you so much.

Geoff Herbach loves writing these books. He teaches creative writing at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He lives among excellent kids: Leo, Mira, Christian, and Charlie. He is married to the tall and otherwise fantastic Stephanie Wilbur Ash. Together they inhabit a log cabin on the side of a bluff.