Izzy Kline Has Butterflies

by Beth Ain

Said I notice a lot of things other people miss.

  She said it is the small moments that fill up our

  big lives.

  She said it’s worth writing down.

  Don’t worry, I say to James.

  It’s my stuff.

  I’ll carry it.

  “Glad to Have a Friend Like You” from Free to Be…You and Me had lots to do with the writing of this book—it not only reminds me of my first-grade classroom, where it was the background music to many an arts-and-crafts project, but captures for me exactly what it feels like to have meaningful and lasting childhood friendships. I thank my dear friend Rhonda Penn Seidman—who has been showing me since we were two years old how friendship is done. And I thank the incredible friends I’ve made in my adult life, whose stories are interesting and wonderful and who make me laugh and who make it easier to be a good mother and a good writer.

  Thanks also to the incredible teachers and staff at Manorhaven Elementary. Laurey Brevig-Almirall, Lynette O’Brien, Joe Lennon, Alyssa Zendzian, Lorraine Bellman, Stephanie Seidner, Jennifer Kim, and Lourdes Perez, you inspire my kids and me every single day. Thanks also to one of a kind librarian, Maryellen Noone, to Principal Bonni Cohen, and to Margaret Kujan who has always managed to make special some of the smallest moments of them all.

  As in fiction, sometimes life comes full circle in the most surprising and wonderful ways. I’m so grateful for Michelle Nagler, whose insights and loving care of this book have made it better and, more than anything, the book I always wanted it to be. Thanks also to everyone else at Random House Children’s Books who left their mark on this book, especially Caroline Abbey and Leslie Mechanic, and to the incredible Julie Morstad, whose jacket artwork brought this book to life all at once, making beautiful the nervous butterflies that flit around inside us.

  Thanks, Jill Grinberg, for believing in my work and in me from the start and when I most certainly did not. I am grateful beyond words.

  Thank you, Gail Levine, for being my mom, for bringing light and love and side-splitting laughs to the not-always-brightly-lit spaces of childhood. Thanks to my dad, Charles Levine, for putting the top down and blasting the Weavers and for letting me sit in the jump seat on our nights with you.

  Thanks to Michael Levine, to whom this book is dedicated, for letting me be in the room, most of the time. Every girl should have a big brother like you—for the grit, the wicked sense of humor, and the much cooler taste in music.

  Thanks to my extended Ain family, whose constant support makes me feel especially blessed.

  Thank you to Jon Ain, who reads my pages over and over, even if I’ve only changed two words. You are the realest, and I love you through and through.

  And to my kiddos, exceptional in ways I could not possibly think up on my own, Grace and Elijah, who let me eavesdrop on their lives more than they should have to. I’m hoping this time around, you get a little glimpse into mine. Love you both to the moon and back.

  grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she and her best friend were free to finger-paint in the basement, and make plays, and get in and out of fights and hysterical fits of laughter, all to the soundtrack of Free to Be…You and Me. She is glad to have friends and family who encouraged her to be creative with her memories. She is the author of several books for children, including the Starring Jules series. She lives in Port Washington, New York, with her husband and two children. Visit her online at bethain.com.

  What’s next on

  your reading list?

  Discover your next

  great read!

  * * *

  Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.

  Sign up now.