Only, I won’t stop there.
Because I won’t let one bad landing define me.
And in trying again, I know who I am and I know who I’m not.
Because even though they took away the thing I love, I will not give in. I am more than just the thing I love. I am a friend. I am a girlfriend. I am a keeper of secrets. I am the girl with the blue streak. I am the one who confronted Ms. Merritt. I am someone who asks for help. I am the person who didn’t cheat on her boyfriend. I am a one-handed pianist. I am the audience. I am a fire-eater.
I am a survivor.
I am a Mockingbird, and I will not look the other way, and I will definitely not go quietly.
I will fight.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I hereby toast the following people:
To Kate Sullivan, a rock star editor who is tough on manuscripts, gentle with writers, easy to talk to, fantastic to work with, and totally fashionable. (Ha, you can’t edit that sentence, nor can Dale Snitterman.)
To Andy McNicol, thank you for being my shark and for your great taste in footwear, the two of which often go hand in hand.
To Caroline D’Onofrio, a fantastic teammate and one of the most astute readers I know. To Laura Bonner for bringing the Mockingbirds to the world.
To Nancy Conescu, who helped shape the world in this novel.
To Little, Brown and the whole team, including Lisa Sabater, Megan Tingley, Jennifer Hunt, and Dave Caplan.
To Gale Fraley for her insight on hair color. To Christa Fletcher for the aha moment. To Brian Brushwood for the how-to on fire-eating. To Jill Ciambriello for educating me about dance. To Doug Walker for his torch singer picks. To Scott Meldrum at Pollin8 for building an awesome Facebook page and being the best guy in the digital-media business.
To Courtney Summers and C.J. Omolulu for their early reads, invaluable insight, and limitless putting-up-with-the-crazy capacity. To Suzanne Young, Victoria Schwab, and Mandy Morgan for always cheering me on. To fellow YA writers Kiersten White and Stephanie Perkins for friendship and access to their e-mail inboxes. To Zoe Strickland, my official teen reader and my friend.
Most of all, to Theresa Shaw for being the best of the best of everything and for always getting the and credit.
To my parents, Michael and Polly, for your faith in me and support. To Barbara, Kathy, Garry, and Jill for letting me be the rare person who has cool in-laws. To Cammi and Ilene for being my everyday go-to gals.
To the readers who embraced the first book—you make it all worthwhile. Keep those e-mails coming. To the librarians and booksellers who get books in the hands of readers—you make the world go round.
To Mighty Leaf green tea and Hello Panda cookies—I drive up the P in your P&L every day when I write. Please consider sending me a gift basket of goodies.
To my dog, Violet, who despite what the dedication says, is definitely one of the loves of my life.
To my children, who delight me with their love and their ability to distinguish between lay and lie.
And most of all, always and forever, to my husband, Jeff—the world’s greatest humor producer.
Oh, and please go read or reread or re-reread The Chocolate War and A Separate Peace, because those are some seriously great books. Even if they don’t have totally adorable Lab-collie mixes named Violet in them.
Last word goes to the dog!
Contents
Dedication
Chapter One: Positive Reinforcement
Chapter Two: Movie Images
Chapter Three: A Link to the Past
Chapter Four: The Themis Way
Chapter Five: Extra Credit
Chapter Six: Working Girls
Chapter Seven: The Scene of the Crime
Chapter Eight: State’s Evidence
Chapter Nine: Dramatic Gestures
Chapter Ten: Identity Shift
Chapter Eleven: Wild West
Chapter Twelve: Stratocaster Bet
Chapter Thirteen: Two Halves
Chapter Fourteen: The Grand Illusion
Chapter Fifteen: Admissions Swoon
Chapter Sixteen: Secret Keeper
Chapter Seventeen: Broken Boy
Chapter Eighteen: School Pride
Chapter Nineteen: Make an Offer
Chapter Twenty: Big Man on Campus
Chapter Twenty-One: Sparks
Chapter Twenty-Two: Backfire
Chapter Twenty-Three: Reasonable Doubt
Chapter Twenty-Four: Stolen Kiss
Chapter Twenty-Five: Peace Offering
Chapter Twenty-Six: Missing
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Spotlight
Chapter Twenty-Eight: School Rivals
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Torch Singer
Chapter Thirty: Sister’s Keeper
Chapter Thirty-One: One Bad Landing
Chapter Thirty-Two: Girl Power
Chapter Thirty-Three: Midnight Train
Chapter Thirty-Four: Taking Sides
Chapter Thirty-Five: Her Good Name
Chapter Thirty-Six: Birds Can Fly
Acknowledgments
Also by Daisy Whitney
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by Daisy Whitney
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.lb-teens.com
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
First e-book edition: February 2012
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
ISBN: 978-0-316-19329-0
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