Shadow and Bone

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to my agent and champion, Joanna Stampfel-Volpe. I
feel lucky every day to have her on my side, as well as the
wonderful team at Nancy Coffey Literary: Nancy, Sara
Kendall, Kathleen Ortiz, Jaqueline Murphy, and Pouya
Shahbazian.
My sharp-eyed and intuitive editor, Noa Wheeler, believed
in this story and knew exactly how to make it better. Many
thanks to the remarkable people at Holt Children’s and
Macmillan: Laura Godwin, Jean Feiwel, Rich Deas and April
Ward in design, and Karen Frangipane, Kathryn Bhirud, and
Lizzy Mason in marketing and publicity. I’d also like to thank
Dan Farley and Joy Dallanegra-Sanger. Shadow and Bone
could not have found a better home.
My generous readers, Michelle Chihara and Josh
Kamensky, lent me their supergenius brains and cheered me on
with relentless enthusiasm and patience. Thanks also to my
brother Shem for his art and long-distance hugs, Miriam “Sis”
Pastan, Heather Joy Kamensky, Peter Bibring, Tracey Taylor,
the Apocalypsies (especially Lynne Kelly, Gretchen McNeil,
and Sarah J. Maas, who gave me my first review), my fellow
WOART Leslie Blanco, and Dan Moulder, who was lost to the
river.
I blame Gamynne Guillote for fostering my megalomania
and encouraging my love of villains, Josh Minuto for
introducing me to epic fantasy and making me believe in
heroes, and Rachel Tejada for way too many late-night
movies. Hedwig Aerts, my fellow pirate queen, put up with
long hours of late-night typing. Erdene Ukhaasai diligently
translated Russian and Mongolian for me over Facebook.
Morgan Fahey kept me in cocktails, conversation, and
delicious fiction. Dan Braun and Michael Pessah kept the beat.
Many books helped to inspire Ravka and bring it to life,
including Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia, by
Orlando Figes; Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old