by Abby Bardi
Acknowledgements
A number of people contributed to the shaping of this book. I’d like to thank the burn unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center for giving me a guided tour and medical information, and the Ellicott City Fire Department for talking to me about fires. I’d like to thank the people who read earlier drafts of the novel and offered invaluable advice: Molly Friedrich, Jenny Bent, Rachel Carpenter, Jody Jaffe, Len Kruger, Vickie Baily, Barbara Bass, Andie DiMarco, Gila Lewis, Christina Van Norman, Beth Baldwin, and especially, Gina Schuchman, whose insightful comments while we were riding the bus at Disney World were a game-changer. I want to thank the people who live across the street from me, whose houses I stare at from my porch, imagining what goes on there. I want to thank Gary Kissick for telling me about HarperCollins Australia Impulse, and I want to thank my wonderful editors there, Rochelle Fernandez and Anna Valdinger, as well as Vanessa Williams and Stephanie Smith. And most of all, I want to thank my family members for living every day what “family” means.
About the Author
ABBY BARDI is the author of The Book of Fred (Atria 2001). She grew up in Chicago, went to college in California, then spent a decade teaching English in Japan and England. Currently, she teaches at a college in Maryland and lives in historic Ellicott City with her husband and dog.
Copyright
Impulse
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2015
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Abby Bardi 2015
The right of Abby Bardi to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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