I would also like to thank Olivia Gonzalez for taking the time to speak with me about her experiences as part of Pedro Pan. Her detailed memories, while certainly painful to recall, contributed to this book in so many important and meaningful ways. Thank you to my Cuban hermana and fellow writer Christina Diaz Gonzalez for putting us in touch. Christina’s novel The Red Umbrella is a beautifully written story about a young girl leaving Cuba as part of Pedro Pan, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
To my editor, Katherine Jacobs, thank you for the seed that became this book and for your care as you shepherded it to conclusion.
To my agent, Kerry Sparks, and to the entire amazing team at Levine Greenberg Rostan, especially Beth Fisher, thank you always for being on my side.
To everyone at Macmillan, including Mary Van Akin, Jo Kirby, Elizabeth Clark, Lucy Del Priore, Katie Halata, Molly Ellis, Allison Verost, Brittany Pearlman, and everyone associated with getting my books out into the world—thank you a million times over for your support and encouragement.
Thank you to Cathy Power for answering all my questions about being an ’80s punk in Texas and for being such a cheerleader of my work. Un abrazo fuerte for the wonderful Domino Perez for reading over some critical scenes. Thanks also to Claire Barnhart for answering my Los Angeles inquiries, and to my brother, Chris Mathieu, for taking me to the Griffith Observatory more than once.
To my YA community, including Jessica Taylor, Julie Murphy, Kate Sowa, Christa Desir, Katie Cotugno, Jeff Zentner, Liara Tamani, Leigh Bardugo, Mitali Perkins, Caleb Roehrig, Anna-Marie McLemore, Emmy Laybourne, the YAHous, the good folks at Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, and so many others who take the time to support me and each other—thank you!
Much love to my second family at Bellaire High School for your ongoing support of my second career, especially Michael McDonough and Carl Casteel. I am Cardinal Proud!
To the Jesus and Mary Chain, whose gorgeous and heartbreaking music served as my writing soundtrack for this novel.
And finally, to my biggest fan, my husband, Kevin. What would I do without you? I never want to know. Texas-sized love to you and Elliott forever.
For the Canales sisters
Graziella, Georgina, Maria Elena,
and especially my mother, Maria Teresa
HODDER CHILDREN’S BOOKS
First published in Great Britain in 2019 by Hodder and Stoughton
First published in the USA by Roaring Brook Press in 2019
This eBook edition published in 2019
Text copyright © Jennifer Mathieu, 2019
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
eBook conversion by PDQ Digital Media Solutions Ltd.
ISBN 978 1 444 94607 9
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