by Kelly Jones
Eli elbowed me. “Uh, HD? I really think it might be an age thing. We’d better design that experiment and find out who else can see her.”
“Yeah, we’ll put it on the list,” I said. I met those kids’ eyes and gave them the nod.
So that’s how people thought of me now…a maker who builds computers for ghosts.
Uh-huh.
I could live with that.
At least, until next year’s fair.
Because my next project? Well, let me just tell you this: it’s going to be even better.
Thank you to Sundee Frazier, Nita Tyndall, Aarene Storms, Jim Beidle, Eric Lakin, Ryan, Danny, and Ansel Idryo, Sarah Keliher, Jan and Jenny Waggoner, Chiemi Davis, Kikora Dorsey, Luisa Weiss’s Classic German Baking, Linda Ziedrich’s The Joy of Pickling, the friendly bakers at Kaffeeklatsch, New Moon Farm’s Goatalympics, the writers of Black Nerd Problems, Artie Bennett, Iris Broudy, Alison Kolani, Marianne Cohen, Jake Eldred, and everyone who helped me make this book richer, deeper, and better.
Thank you to Melissa Koosmann, Liz Wong, Jen Adam, Edith Hope Bishop, Brenna Shanks, Marin Younker, Mike Denton, Sarah Hunt, Alison Weatherby, Courtney Gould, Gillian Allen, Jenny Scott Tynes, and my Emerald City Literary Agency and SCBWI Western Washington friends and colleagues, who keep me writing. Special thanks to Caroline Stevermer, who, upon hearing that a haunted pickling crock popped up in my story, really did declare that all pickling crocks are haunted, and to Kim Baker, whose Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School inspired me.
Thank you to all who share my stories with readers: Josh Redlich, Elena Meuse, Shaughnessy Miller, Deanna Meyerhoff, Lisa Nadel, Kristin Schulz, Lisa McClatchy, Adrienne Waintraub, Rene Holderman, Niki Marion, Sam Kaas, Suzanne Perry, Christy McDanold, Rene Kirkpatrick, Grace Rajendran, Tegan Tigani, Jenny Cole, Annie Carl, Michelle Bear, Mary Kay Sneeringer, Holly Myers, Karen Maeda Allman, Dan and Tina Ullom, Chris Jarmick, Lillian Welch, Cecilia Cackley, Alene Moroni, Stephanie Chase, Anna Mickelsen, Jenny Craig, Joy Feldman, Kiera Parrott, Monica Edinger, Kit Ballenger, Amber Bauer, and all the amazing booksellers, teachers, bloggers, reviewers, and librarians who’ve made sharing a love of reading their life’s work.
Thank you to Mandy Hubbard and Nancy Siscoe, who believed in this book from the beginning, to Marisa DiNovis and Garrett Alwert, who kept us all afloat, and to Bob Bianchini and Trish Parcell, who put everything together so beautifully.
Thank you to Paul Davey, who brought HD and his story to life with such magic and grace.
Stories don’t grow in vacuums. Thank you to all the makers, geeks, picklers, bakers, junkyard aficionados, goat caretakers, tap dancers, mechanics, farmers, soldiers, engineers, scientists, curious people, and readers who make my world such an interesting place. Special thanks to those who trusted me with their names and their personal explorations of family and heritage: you gave this book its heart.
Thank you to my family and friends, who believe in making stuff, testing things, helping people, knowing where we came from, and thinking about who we want to be. I love you guys.
© Susan Brown
KELLY JONES has been a librarian and a bookseller and a maker of seriously cool stuff. She is now a novelist and the author of Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer and its sequel, Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken?, and the feminist Regency romp Murder, Magic, and What We Wore. She lives near Seattle with her partner and several chickens—but as of yet, no goats.
curiosityjones.net
PAUL DAVEY is a self-taught artist and illustrator based in Miami. He was born in Manchester, Jamaica, and has been drawing ever since he could hold a crayon. This is his first book for kids.
mattahan.com
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