Her face lights up. “Would you really be in a band with me?”
“Of course,” I say. “You’re my best friend. I wouldn’t be in a band with anyone but you.”
Lea looks dizzy with excitement. “Maybe I could ask Mom for a guitar for my birthday. And Christmas—it could be two presents in one. So I don’t have to keep borrowing yours. And you could keep teaching me how to play.”
I nod. “That would be so cool. But you’d have to practice—you couldn’t just quit on the band and change your mind.”
She crosses her heart. “I’d never quit. And you couldn’t change your mind either—you have to promise you’ll always want to play music with me. You have to promise we’ll do this forever. Because I’m not going to waste a birthday and Christmas present on a guitar if you are just going to change your mind.”
I laugh. “I promise. We’ll always play music together.”
“Okay, I promise too.”
We shake hands and laugh like the children we are, making promises we don’t realize we can’t keep, but making them anyway because we mean every word.
Because for Lea and me, music is the whole world.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my editor, Jennifer Ung—thank you for using your editorial magic to shape this book into what it is today. You always know exactly what to do to bring out the best in a story, and I feel like the luckiest author in the world to have worked with you on two books now. I’m so very grateful for your constant enthusiasm and excitement, and it is truly an honor to share this book with you!
To my agent, Penny Moore—thank you for always being in my corner, and for offering so much guidance, support, and wisdom. You already know I think you’re a superhero, and I will shout about what a warrior you are until the end of time. I could not imagine being on this writing journey with anyone else!
An enormous thank you to the Simon Pulse team who’ve helped turn Summer Bird Blue into a real book—Mara Anastas, Chriscynethia Floyd, Liesa Abrams, Caitlin Sweeny, Alissa Nigro, Christian Vega, Amy Hendricks, Nicole Russo, Sam Benson, Christina Pecorale, Emily Hutton, Caitlin Nalven, Michelle Leo, Chelsea Morgan, and Sara Berko.
And to the incredibly talented Sarah Creech—thank you for once again designing a cover more beautiful than anything I could have ever imagined. You captured the heart of this story so perfectly and thoughtfully, and I get emotional every time I look at those adorable birds and remember what they represent.
A special thank you to Andrea Barzvi and Sandy Hodgman at Empire Literary for all of your time, hard work, and support this past year.
And an enormous amount of love and gratitude to Eric Smith, Brandy Colbert, S. K. Ali, Ashley Herring Blake, Samira Ahmed, Melissa Albert, Kelly Loy Gilbert, and Riley Redgate for being such generous and wonderful human beings.
To the readers, book bloggers, and booktubers who have championed Starfish and Summer Bird Blue from the beginning—thank you for making this experience so special. Every time a new reader picks up a book I’ve written, I feel like my dreams are coming true all over again. I’m so appreciative of all the time you spend promoting the books and authors you love.
To the readers who are finding my words for the very first time—thank you for reading this book. It means the absolute world.
A massive thank you to my writer friends Nicki, Lyla, Taylor, and Anisaa, who made the roller-coaster of being published a little less bumpy (and terrifying). And to my friends and family who have been so supportive—thank you for being the best hype-team I could ask for. And a special shout-out to my dad—thank you for reading so many early drafts of this book, and for sharing all your expertise on Hawaiian Pidgin. Your help has been invaluable!
And finally, to the three loves of my life—Shaine, Oliver, and my husband, Ross. You make up the center of my universe, and you’ll always be home to me. Thanks for making every day better, brighter, and more brilliant than the last. I love you all times infinity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Akemi Dawn Bowman is the author of Starfish and Summer Bird Blue. She’s a proud Ravenclaw and Star Wars enthusiast, who served in the US Navy for five years and has a BA in social sciences from UNLV. Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, she currently lives in Scotland with her husband, two children, and their Pekingese mix.
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Also by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Starfish
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.
SIMON PULSE
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First Simon Pulse hardcover edition September 2018
Text copyright © 2018 by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Jacket design and illustration by Sarah Creech copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Jacket ocean photographs copyright © 2018 by ChrisVanLennepPhoto/Getty Images
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Interior designed by Tom Daly
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bowman, Akemi Dawn, author.
Title: Summer bird blue / Akemi Dawn Bowman.
Description: First Simon Pulse hardcover edition. | New York : Simon Pulse, 2018. | Summary: After her sister and songwriting partner, Lea, dies in an automobile accident, seventeen-year-old Rumi is sent to Hawaii with an aunt she barely knows while she and her mother grieve separately.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017048136 (print) | LCCN 2017058959 (eBook) | ISBN 9781481487771 (eBook) | ISBN 9781481487757 (hardcover)
Subjects: | CYAC: Sisters—Fiction. | Mothers and daughters—Fiction. | Death—Fiction. | Grief—Fiction. | Composers—Fiction. | Aunts—Fiction. | Hawaii—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.B6873 (eBook) | LCC PZ7.1.B6873 Sum 2018 (print) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017048136
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