I thought about Earl and knew he would never consider what he did a mistake, running for Jordana, carrying her to help. He made that choice and I was certain, beyond any doubt, that he would make it again.
I thought about my mom and how, when I first saw that email, I thought Darrin was the mistake she was making, but now I knew I was wrong. The mistakes came first, between her and my dad. As much as it bothered me to consider it, maybe the mess with Darrin would turn out to be part of the solution.
I thought about Chieko and the mistake she got printed into her skin, and the way she planned to fix it.
I thought about Brenda and her closet full of what-ifs—the what-ifs she could do something with and the what-ifs that she couldn’t. And I thought about how smart she was to realize that what now was sometimes the better question.
I thought about Jordana and the mistakes she’d made this summer, always trying to be older, cooler, to get the attention of the Aster girls. I hoped the time she spent resting in clinic gave her a chance to sort them out. And learn from them. And adjust.
If there was one thing I had learned from my mom and dad, it was that you were never too old to make mistakes. I knew I still had plenty of mistakes ahead of me, big and little. I knew I’d get stuck and I knew I would need help.
But I had resources now.
I was crazy rich with resources.
I could read Eleanor.
Or I could do research like Vera.
Or I could call Chieko.
Or I could find some ground and dig deep like Earl, turning the soil until it sparkled like a mine of gems, shining its possibilities up at me.
And then I’d go from there.
Acknowledgments
A giant thank you goes to my wonderful and talented agent, Joan Rosen, for your constant support, dedication, and expertise. I appreciate everything you’ve done to keep the good squidgy alive!
I also want to thank everyone at HarperCollins Children’s Books, especially Cat San Juan, Liz Byer, Valerie Shea, Erin Fitzsimmons, Erin Wallace, Vaishali Nayak, and Mitchell Thorpe for all your hard work poking and prodding this book into shape.
A huge thank you goes to my smart and exacting editor, Jessica MacLeish, and a heartfelt thank you to the very attentive, professional, and supportive Courtney Stevenson for holding my hand across the finish line.
I am in love with Jane Newland’s art and am eternally grateful for her gorgeous cover illustration.
I want to thank indie booksellers everywhere for working passionately to match books with readers every single day. A giant shout-out to Julie, Jen, Sarah, and Basia at Inkwood Books in New Jersey. You are all bookselling queens!
I also want to thank my fun and very supportive book-nerd family at the Haddonfield Public Library. Work doesn’t feel like work with you.
Thank you to my mom for bringing me one hundred homemade chocolate chip cookies every single summer on Visiting Day, (plus another hundred for Gayle, plus another hundred for Jan), and thank you to my dad for introducing me to the very unique world that is sleepaway camp.
My deepest thanks go to Jeffrey, Nina, and Mike. I love you more than anything in the whole wide world. Thank you for always being there for me. You are my everything.
And to all the campers who know what it’s like to be ripped out of a glorious night’s sleep by the sound of a bugle screeching over a lousy PA system—this book is for you.
About the Author
Photo by Colette Oswald
AMY REBECCA TAN is the author of A Kind of Paradise. She has worked as a babysitter, a waitress, a camp counselor, a tea seller, a muffin delivery person, a barista, and a bookbinder. She currently works in a public library and an independent bookstore. She has a master’s degree in special education and has taught in the New York City school system. Amy lives in New Jersey with her family.
www.amyrebeccatan.com
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Books by Amy Rebecca Tan
A Kind of Paradise
Copyright
SUMMER AT MEADOW WOOD. Copyright © 2020 by Amy Rebecca Tan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text 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 HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Cover art © 2020 by Jane Newland
Cover design by Catherine San Juan
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Digital Edition MAY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-279548-9
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-279545-8
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2021222324PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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