For Norma Fox Mazer, Mrs. Paouris, and More

You can never make the list long enough, so I’ll just put down a few for today.

For Norma Fox Mazer, who told me, “A novel is not an intellectual Lose Weight Exercise but an emotional journey.”

For my father who long ago wrote me a birthday note and addressed it: “For my daughter who writes about beautiful things and takes pictures of beautiful things.”

For my elementary school, middle school, and high school teachers, especially Mrs. Joye, Ms. Ottewell, Mrs. Paouris, Ms. Kobelt, and Ms. Lasher

For the librarians and educators who take the time to put the right book in a child’s hands

For Mom, who left all those Newbery-winning books lying around the house but never told me to read them, which of course meant I did.