Signs Point to Yes (25 page)

Tons of gratitude to the Swoon staff as a whole: Jean Feiwel, Alison Verost, Kathryn Little, Caitlyn Sweeney, and Lauren Scobell have made this a truly amazing experience. And to my favorite travel companions, Nicole Banholzer and Brittany Pearlman: Thanks for making seven cities in eight days much easier to deal with. To my fellow Swoon authors: I love how much this group has grown, and I'm so glad we're in it together!

To my friends at the Morristown & Morris Township Library: Thanks for not making me feel too guilty about leaving. To the kids in the tenth- to twelfth-grade book club during the summer of 2014, thanks for all your help! Without you guys, this story would have never even seen the light of day and Teo wouldn't be a lifeguard.

Endless amounts of appreciation to Lauren Velella, who holds the title of being the only person besides Holly to read every single draft of this one. Next time I talk to you, I will whistle the theme song to
The Golden Girls
in its entirety as a show of thanks.

Sometimes all you need is a kind ear, so thank you to Michelle Petrasek and Chrissy George for always listening cheerfully even when I've rambled endlessly about absolutely nothing. And to Kate Vasilik, Katie Nellen, Chelsea Reichert, and Melanie Morritt for lots of things, but particularly for reminding me that I shouldn't send a character named Margo on a road trip to Florida for fear of people drawing comparisons to a different book.

A great big heap of thanks to my aunt and uncle, Brenda and Bill Bankos, who have been unbelievably excited and genuinely wonderful through this whole experience.

The niblings already got their moment at the beginning of the book, so I'll skip them this time, but thanks to my siblings, Karen, Scott, and Sean, and my siblings-in-law, Bill and Sandra.

I would need to make a whole new word to accurately express how thankful I am to my mom, Pat, who's been so supportive and understanding as I dive into my writing career, so we'll just leave it with thanks, and I'll work on the new vocabulary before the next book. And to my dad, Wayne, who I know would be so proud.