To Joshua, man where do I start, Joshie-poo? You’ve been one of my best pals since you were born. Thank you for helping me select outfits at Charlotte Russe when you were two, for finishing Kingdom Hearts with me, for standing there motionless and silent while I recorded music—rofl (I’m still sorry for that), and for sending me memes when I’m sad. I love you, and I’m so proud of you. Please be sure to budget a bougie apartment for me when you graduate MIT. ☺ Thanks for being so super excited for Ghost Squad; your enthusiasm for it gave me confidence. #ForeverYachtAccess
Evan, I love how caring and kind you’ve always been, even when you were chasing Gigi with the chair that one time. You’re so incredibly talented, and I can’t listen to you sing without crying. Thank you for being one of my first-ever beta readers and for having so much enthusiasm for my world and my writing. I’ll never forget it.
To Sam: You’re one of the best kids on this planet. So funny, so smart, so loving. Thanks for letting me read chapters of my writing to you, for reading ghost books with me during sleepovers, for making me laugh, and for making me proud. You’re the kind of kid I wrote this book for, and I won’t lie, a lot of Syd’s snarky lines and jokes were written with you in mind, lol. Thanks for inspiring me.
Maia, my February buddy. You’re such an amazing writer, and I love how voracious a reader you are. Thanks for giving me feedback on my chapters and for almost making me name this book Fireflies of Passion.
To L, the best bro-in-law I could ever ask for! Can’t wait to raise my champagne glass like a ’90s video with you at the launch party. You’re the best. <3
Pedro, thanks for all your support throughout the years!
To my INCREDIBLE agent, Suzie Townsend: I’m really happy you’re in my corner. Thank you for believing in me and for making me a better writer. I’ve learned so much from you, and I appreciate you so, so much. I hope to keep selling books so you can play the dragon app again one day.
To everyone at New Leaf and especially Dani Segelbaum, Cassandra Baim, and Meredith Barnes: You are all my heroes, and I can’t believe I get to work with such amazing people.
To everyone at Scholastic: my editor, Jeffrey West; Lizette Serrano; David Levithan; and all the sales, marketing, and publicity people—I couldn’t ask for a better team to champion my book. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and for Ghost Squad.
To my very first critique partners and beta readers—Michael Mammay and Andrea Contos: I would not be here without your help. Mike, thanks for telling me some hard truths about my writing and getting me on the path to publication. You’re one of my favorite people on this planet. Andrea, thanks for being one of my closest friends and most trusted confidants, for making our own private group chat to get away from the weirdos, for supporting me through querying and the query welcome-back center, for all the laughs, for the KH tweets, and for the support during grief and offers and setbacks. I love you!
To Kat and Beth: What in the world would I do without our group chat? Kat, I never imagined I’d make one of my best friends in life as an old woman, but here we are. Thanks for being there for me always, for celebrating with me, and for listening to me. I’m lucky to have you in my life and happy to share this journey with you. Beth, thank you for creating DVPIT, for helping to change my life, and for being one of the fiercest, funniest friends I’ve ever had. #BODforever #KatSubtweet
To Patrice Caldwell—Ghost Squad would not have happened without you. Thank you for believing in me when nobody else in publishing did. I will never forget your support and your encouragement.
To Leigh Bardugo for your priceless advice and your patience with my annoying emails. You taught me how to be both legendary and humble just by being you.
To Peter Lopez for being my number one stan, my reality show shishter, my support, and my nonstop texting buddy. Thank you for reading Ghost Squad, for reading ALL my books, and for helping me without hesitation every time. Love you so much, PERIOD! Can’t wait to see your books on shelves very soon.
To the Write or Die podcast community: Thank you for supporting me always. I’m so grateful for all our listeners.
To the many, many friends, authors, readers, and teachers who’ve supported me on my path to publication: Chris & Julie Bujarski, Stephanie Ford, Jackie Senno, Jessica & Chris Sevigny, Julie C. Dao, the Writing Cult, Connie and Lucas, Josie, Katie Bailey, Ozma, Pete Forester, Ryan La Sala, Eric Smith, Zoraida C., Suzanne Samin, Samira Ahmed, Tiffany Jackson, Isabel Sterling, Sierra Elmore, Laura Sebastian, Adam Silvera, Cristina Arreola, and every last person online and everywhere who’s supported me.
To anyone I left out: I’m sorry, but please know you’re in my heart and that I am very sleepy all the time.
Last but not least, thank you to cheese. I would not have survived writing this or any book, without you.
Claribel A. Ortega is a former reporter who writes middle-grade and young adult fantasy inspired by her Dominican heritage. When she’s not busy turning her obsession with eighties pop culture, magic, and video games into books, she’s traveling the world for her day job in marketing and making GIFs for her small graphic design business, GIFGRRL. You can find her on Twitter at @Claribel_Ortega and on her website at claribelortega.com.
Copyright © 2020 by Claribel A. Ortega
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
First edition, April 2020
Jacket art © 2020 by Lorena Alvarez Gómez
Jacket design by Christopher Stengel
e-ISBN 978-1-338-28014-2
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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