Look Both Ways (34 page)

Holly Root, agent extraordinaire, who laughed the first time I said “Bye Bye Banquo” and assured me other people would find it funny, too. Thanks for staying on my case to write this book. I’m so lucky to have you on my team.

Everyone at Delacorte Press who works tirelessly to make my books beautiful. Special thanks to Krista Vitola; my cover designer, Angela Carlino; and my copy editor, Bara MacNeill.

My brilliant beta readers: Lindsay Ribar, Michelle Schusterman, Kayla Olson, Corey Ann Haydu, Jennifer Malone, and Claire Legrand. I have no idea how anyone manages to write books without your help. Thank you for your honesty, kindness, patience, and perspective. I would be lost without you.

Jenna Scherer, who taught me about voice class; Sean Kelso, who filled in the gaps in my technical theater knowledge; and Elizabeth Otto and Mark McCauley, who explained how to fight electrical fires.

Williamstown Theater Festival, where I spent the most exhausting summer of my life working as a “lighting design assistant” (read: manual laborer) in 2004. As I hauled equipment up endless flights of stairs with my wimpy spaghetti arms, I told myself these experiences would be useful to me someday. And now, twelve years and two professions later, they finally have been.

The Hangar Theater in Ithaca, New York, where I had nearly all the best moments of my lighting design career. Marianna Caldwell, Evelyn Gaynor, and Rachel Handshaw, whom I met on the Hangar stage and who continue to be the best friends a girl could ask for. Pesha Rudnick, the director who told me it was my responsibility as an artist to show my audience how I see the world—I still think about that every time I write. And Kevin Moriarty, our artistic director and the man who coined the phrase “warriors for art.” Thank you for your boundless enthusiasm and support, and thank you for telling me it was okay to quit theater and seek artistic fulfillment elsewhere.

Elizabeth Little, who somehow survived being my roommate during my lighting design years. I’m so sorry about the performances I made you sit through.

My wonderful community of YA writers, who cheerlead and commiserate like champions. Thank you for being my people.

My mom, Susan Cherry, and my sister, Erica Kemmerling, who have always supported me no matter what I chose to do. Knowing you’re there for me makes everything seem possible.

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