“You want to start anyway?”
“Why the hell not? Since when do either of us carry around cheat sheets?”
“True.”
“So chill. We got this.” I dip both of our brushes into the paint and swirl them around. I look up at YP; a smile creeps over her face as she looks at our wall. She’s ready. I stick out one of the brushes, a bead of Clear Skies drips over both our shoes.
“It’s only the beginning.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have more people to thank than stars in the sky, and every last one of them makes my universe brighter.
Huge thanks to my team at Knopf. Thanks to Marisa DiNovis for the tour and her contagious enthusiasm for books. To Ray Shappell for helping me design the heck out of my color-bombed cover; Stephanie Moss, who laid out the pages with great finesse and care; and, of course, my brilliant editor, Stephen Brown, who knows just how to make my stories shine. This book is beautiful because of all of you.
Thanks to everyone at my wonderful agency, Triada US. To Uwe Stender for his constant encouragement, and my dear agent, Brent Taylor, whose unfailing optimism and fierceness never cease to amaze me. Thank you for being my champion, agent, and friend.
To all of my d/Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and interpreter sensitivity readers, who helped make Julia’s life and experiences as truthful as possible. Kelsey Young, Brook Wayne, Kimberly Bull, and Kate Boyd—thank you for your insight, honesty, and understanding. Very special thanks to Kalen Feeney, my wonderful ASL tutor and mentor in Deaf culture. I love chatting with you until my fingers hurt. If Julia ever makes it to the big screen, you’re writing the script.
Nisha Sharma for your notes and enthusiasm for Julia’s heritage and love of makhani.
Thanks to Jen at Pop! Goes the Reader for my gorgeous cover reveal.
My first-ever critique partners, Kiersi Burkhart and Cynthia McGean. Thank you for pushing me to get words on the page week after week.
To everyone who keeps me going through countless chats, DMs, and texts: Jon & Vicky, Blair, Brooks, Lygia, Nita, Summer, and Kaitlyn. To Taryn, who had milk shakes with me on the day we sold the book. And especially Fred, who sent me the nicest email I’ve ever received.
To Mr. Nick Maravell, greatest art teacher of all time. Thank you for getting me through high school and inspiring me even now.
To my two perfect pugs, especially Gouda, who doesn’t know what a book is or how to read, but has had such an impact on my life, I must include his fuzzy face.
Grandma Pat, who always encouraged me to sing as loud as possible, and Grandma Alice, who wanted me to be quiet and read more books. You both shaped me in very deep and obvious ways.
Mom, thank you for letting me paint all over my bedroom walls and encouraging me to keep painting everything around us. Aunt Linny, thank you for inspiring me to create beauty out of the ordinary. You’re the strongest women I know.
I consider Best Friend to be a tier, not a person, and I’m so lucky to have three incredible best friends.
Arielle Gardner, my sister and my first-ever BFF. There are pieces of you in everything I’ve written. Some more obvious than others. Thank you for sharing all of your stories with me, and keeping thousands of my secrets. I love you.
Cara Hallowell. For all the Fridays in comic shops and Collage. For knitting and puzzle games and podcast recaps. For baking obscene amounts of cookies in your perfect tiny kitchen. Now that we’ve met, I can’t imagine Portland without you. Thank you.
Brie Spangler. You’ve been my sister-in-arms through our publishing journey. I don’t think I would be writing novels if it wasn’t for your encouragement to break out of comic panels. Meeting you was one of the best things about moving to Portland. One of the best things, period. Hand in hand into the void. Thank you for believing.
This book is for you, Roger. But you know that. Thank you for investing in my dreams, in me, in our little life together. I promise it’s only going to keep getting better. I love you more.
Thank you, Universe.
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