The Mutant Mushroom Takeover
Page 17
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was such fun to write and I’m grateful to all those who played a part in helping it come to life, whether it was listening to random fungi facts, reading an early draft, or just being excited that I was writing a novel.
For my wise and hard-working agent, Alyssa Eisner Henkin, thank you for your enthusiasm for this story and for seeing all the ways it could be even stronger. I’m so grateful to have you by my side. To Alice Fugate, for all your attention to detail and assistance.
To my editor, Krista Vitola, thank you for making this book a reality. This manuscript has greatly benefited from your expertise, care, and excitement. I’m delighted to be working with you. To the Simon & Schuster BFYR team, including Catherine Laudine, Kendra Levin, Beth Adelman, and Katrina Groover, thank you for your hard work and valuable insights.
For my sweet husband, thank you for always believing in me. You give me courage to believe too. I love you. For my children who view life with humor and wonder. You inspire me to write and to hope for good things for the world.
To my mom whose gift of storytelling filled my childhood with quirky characters and the sights and sounds of other places and times. To my dad, for inspiring an interest in science and for kindly brainstorming with me about icky things like bacteriophages and parasites. To my creative, talented, and super-cool brother, who was my earliest hero. To Glenn and Jolene, thank you for always being interested in what I’m up to and believing in me. For Carrie, Natalie, Brad, JT, and Sihyun, thank you for your encouragement along the way. To Lauren Anderson, for all the book chats and for being a true kindred spirit.
Thank you to my amazing critique partners and earliest readers, Liz Edelbrock, Lauren LeBlanc, Helen Jameson, and Andrea Rand. Go Dots and Dashes, go!
To the Pitch Wars community, for its continual boosting up of writers and most especially to Kim Long and Jennifer Brown, for being some of Maggie’s first and most enthusiastic supporters. Thank you for all the shared mushroom GIFs, squeals over good news, and words of wisdom. And to Shelly Steig, K. C. Held, April Clausen, Jessica Olson, Megan Clements, Lorelei Savaryn, and Mindy Thompson for being cheerleaders and sounding boards along the way.
For my fellow writers, Kayla Olson, Taylor Morris, Amber Wessling, Eric Boyd, Christina Dwivedi, Marjorie Stordeur, and Heather Kelley, thank you for your advice and encouragement.
And finally, to the One who is my light in the darkness and peace in the storm, you are the giver of every good and perfect gift.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author photo by Bryan Cole
SUMMER RACHEL SHORT lives in North Texas with her husband, three kids, and their Maine coon cat, Emme. Before spinning tales about mutant mushrooms, she worked as a science reporter for her university’s newspaper, where she wrote on topics including nanotech tweezers, poultry farm pollution, and the nighttime habits of spiders and snakes. Summer can often be found exploring new places with her family and dreaming up ideas for her next book. Learn more at srachelshort.com
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Summer-Rachel-Short
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2020 by Summer Rachel Short
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2020 by DKNG Studios
Jacket design by Lizzy Bromley
Jacket illustration copyright © 2020 by DKNG Studios
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Interior design by Hilary Zarycky
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Short, Summer Rachel, author.
Title: The mutant mushroom takeover / Summer Rachel Short.
Description: First edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2020] | Audience: Ages 8-12. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: Hoping to restore her father’s good name and job, Maggie teams up with friend Nate to win a junior naturalist contest, but the rare bioluminescent fungus they find is big trouble. Includes facts about fungi.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019048730 (print) | LCCN 2019048731 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534468658 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534468672 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Mushrooms—Fiction. | Bioluminescence—Fiction. | Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Fathers and daughters—Fiction. | Science fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S51782 Mut 2020 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.S51782 (eBook) |
DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048730
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048731