The Girl You Thought I Was
Page 25
As Eli’s fingers close over mine, I start thinking that maybe it really is possible to turn pain and loss into something good. Because right now it feels like he’s my something good, and all I have to do is hold on.
Acknowledgments
TRYING TO TURN A PETTY CRIMINAL INTO SOMEONE worth rooting for wasn’t easy. Thank you to my editor, Catherine Wallace, for helping me do just that. Again, your sharp eye and insightful suggestions have transformed a messy draft into something I’m proud to share with the world. Thank you to the rest of the amazing HarperTeen team, namely Janet Robbins Rosenberg and Renée Cafiero, for adding and deleting all those dashes and commas and fixing my many grammar mistakes (I’ll get the farther/further thing one of these days), Michelle Taormina and Marta Bevacqua for the gorgeous cover, and everyone else who had a hand in this book.
Words cannot express how grateful I am to my extraordinary agent, Eric Smith. Thank you for dropping everything to read the first draft so quickly, and for loving it so much that you couldn’t think of anything to criticize. You continually go above and beyond, and I don’t know where I’d be without your hard work and encouragement. I’m the luckiest author in the universe to have you on my team.
Speaking of teams, a million thanks to TeamRocks, for putting up with my venting, anxiety, and bad jokes. I love you guys in all your waterfall glory. Another big thanks to P.S. Literary, for the past six wonderful years.
As always, thank you to my Number #1 fan, Shannon Steele. I know that as long as I keep writing, you’ll keep reading and then ask for more. Thank you to the rest of my fabulous friends, for the support, kindness, and countless hours of fun and laughter. I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by such a wonderful group of people.
Thank you to the amazing YA community, on Twitter and beyond. It helps to know that no matter where we all are in the publishing process, we’re all walking the same long and twisty road. And a special thanks to YA bloggers, BookTubers, and bookstagramers, for their commitment to getting the word out and helping little authors like me succeed.
Thank you to my family, extended family, and in-law family. You guys make me feel like a rock star, and your pride in me means everything.
Thank you to my beautiful children. Though neither of you are readers (how did that happen?), you understand how important books and writing are to me. Thank you for putting up with my crankiness—and all those frozen pizzas—as I pounded away on this book.
Lastly, thank you to my loving and patient husband. Writing this book was stressful and often felt impossible, but you were always there to assure me that it would all work out in the end. And you were right.
About the Author
Photo credit SHANNON STEELE
REBECCA PHILLIPS lives in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband, two teenagers, and one spoiled-rotten cat. She’s also the author of These Things I’ve Done, the Just You series, Out of Nowhere, Faking Perfect, and Any Other Girl. Visit Rebecca on her website, www.rebeccawritesya.com, and on Twitter @RebeccaWritesYA.
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Books by Rebecca Phillips
These Things I’ve Done
The Girl You Thought I Was
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Copyright
HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE GIRL YOU THOUGHT I WAS. Copyright © 2018 by Rebecca Phillips. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
Cover photograph by Marta Bevacqua
Cover design by Michelle Taormina
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Digital Edition JULY 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-257096-3
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-257094-9 (trade bdg.)
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1819202122PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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