I had four amazing expert readers for Arrow, all of whom helped make this book better. Thank you to:
Nicole Kelly and Sarah Tuberty of the great Disarming Disability podcast for making sure Arrow’s limb difference is represented accurately.
Kayla de Freitas and Candace Phillips for helping me with the representation of the rainforest and the culture of the indigenous people. I had to take a few literary licenses, but I wanted to make sure that all the fantastical elements still held the spirit of reality.
All of these women are dedicated and inspiring, and I can’t thank them enough for their input on this book.
I also want to thank Bob Allen of The Nature Conservancy for helping me better understand soil, Suzanne Simard for her wonderful TED Talk about her research into how trees communicate, and Peter Wohlleben for his fascinating book The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World.
Before Arrow got to Simon & Schuster, it was nurtured with support from my personal and professional ecosystems, which I can’t live or work without.
My fantastic agent, Rachel Orr, loved this boy and his rainforest from the first words I sent her. Thank you, Rachel, for always being my champion.
My wonderful husband, Jamie, believed in this story and my ability to tell it even when I didn’t. I couldn’t be an author without him. Thank you for being my partner in life.
Thank you to my fellow children’s book authors and illustrators who inspire me, especially my friends at SCBWI, the Electric Eighteens, and my fabulous Lodge of Death family, who have rooted for this story since I wrote the first words while gazing out the lodge windows.
Thank you to my parents and all my de Freitas and Gomes family, who took a chance on a new life in Guyana so many years ago. Without them, I might never have gone into the Amazon and fallen in love with rainforests.
I also want to extend a huge thank-you to the Amerindians who protect the Amazon, to all the indigenous people around the world who have always and continue to live with nature, and to the amazing people, especially the children, who are spearheading environmental efforts globally in spite of corporate and political pushback. Your courage, passion, and dedication inspire me. I hope others will follow your lead.
To God, thank you for allowing me to tell this story about this glorious world we are so lucky to call home. We haven’t always treated it as well as we should, but I pray that will continue to change.
And finally a thank-you to all the librarians, teachers, and parents who are handing this book to children, and who are growing a love of reading in kids. And a big thank-you to all my readers. Without you, this story would be just words, but through you, these characters and this forest live on.
More from the Author
The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SAMANTHA M. CLARK loves stories about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances because if four ordinary brothers and sisters can find a magical world at the back of a wardrobe, why can’t she? Until she finds her own real-life Narnia, she writes about other ordinary children and teens who’ve stumbled into wardrobes of their own. She grew up in different countries around the world and now lives with her husband and two funny dogs in Austin, Texas. Samantha is the regional advisor for the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and she explores wardrobes every chance she gets. Visit her online at SamanthaMClark.com.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Samantha-M-Clark
A Paula Wiseman Book
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Simon & Schuster, New York
Also by Samantha M. Clark
The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast
SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text © 2021 by Samantha M. Clark
Jacket illustration © 2021 by Justin Hernandez
Jacket design by Laurent Linn © 2021 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Interior illustration © 2021 by Justin Hernandez
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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The illustrations for this book were rendered digitally.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Clark, Samantha M., author.
Title: Arrow / Samantha M. Clark.
Description: First edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2021] | Audience: Ages 8-12. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: Twelve-year-old Arrow was raised by the Guardian Tree in a rainforest protected by a magical veil, but now the veil is deteriorating and humans have entered, changing his life forever.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020045574 (print) | LCCN 2020045575 (ebook) | ISBN 9781534465978 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534465992 (ebook)
Subjects: CYAC: Magic—Fiction. | Rainforests—Fiction. | Trees—Fiction. | Environmental protection—Fiction. | Foundlings—Fiction. | Fantasy.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.C579 Arr 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.C579 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045574
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045575
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