National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Acknowledgments
Writing is a solitary activity, but this novel wouldn’t have come to be without help, encouragement, feedback, and friendship.
First things first, though.
In 1998, my stepcousin Janet took her own life. She was twenty-four years old. I was twenty-one. Many of my experiences of working through grief, sadness, confusion, and depression have found their way into this book.
I’m pretty sure this book never would have gotten finished at all if it hadn’t been for my writing group: Yat-Yee Chong, Tanita Davis, Kelly Herold, Anne Levy, Jennifer March Soloway, and JoNelle Toriseva. You are all amazing friends, dedicated writers, and wonderful companions to have on this journey. Special thanks to Tanita, who has probably had to listen to more of my griping and exasperation than anyone else (and who has always been there for last-minute advice), and to Jennifer, who has given me many pep talks and has always believed in this story.
Other readers have weighed in along the way, too. Particular thanks to Mike Adams for some very revealing insights into Sunny’s underhearing, and to Katie Sinclair for helping me with swim race details.
Thanks to my agent Jennifer Laughran for being there at the exact right time to help this one out into the world; to my editor at Flux, Brian Farrey-Latz, for being the perfect combination of friend, advocate, sounding board, and editor; and to everyone else at Flux for making this latest project a reality and for believing in my work. Lastly, thanks to the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and Margaret Speaker Yuan and Colette Weil Parrinello of the SCBWI North/East Bay for providing the perfect environment for a writing (and editing) retreat.
Thanks to my husband, Rob, for everything: reading and giving feedback; listening to me gripe, panic, and/or think out loud; taking care of countless extra meals and chores; and giving me time and space and understanding and love.
And thanks to everyone who had faith in this project, even when I didn’t. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you’re going to make it, but you just have to keep telling yourself, don’t give up.
About the Author
Sarah Jamila Stevenson is a writer, artist, graphic designer, introvert, closet geek, good eater, struggling blogger, lapsed piano player, ukulele noodler, household-chore-ignorer, and occasional world traveler. Her first novel was The Latte Rebellion. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two cats. Visit her online at www.SarahJamilaStevenson.com.