You

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank Joe Goldberg for demanding to be heard. Well done, Joe.

And now, for the real people who brought this book to life. Thank you to everyone at Emily Bestler Books, Atria, and Simon & Schuster. I hit the editorial jackpot with Emily Bestler. Emily, I am so grateful for your enthusiasm, intelligence, and acute sensibilities. Also, don’t get stalked. Judith Curr, Ben Lee, Paul Olsewski, David Brown, Mellony Torres, Hillary Tisman, LeeAnna Woodcock, Jeanne Lee, Kristen Lemire, and Kate Cetrulo—thank you for making me feel so at home. Megan Reid, thank you for the world’s greatest valentines. Alloy, oh Alloy. Josh Bank, Lanie Davis, and Sara Shandler, your brains and hearts are perfect. Joe agrees. Josh, your voice is more potent than Karen Minty’s stick. Lanie, you always know best and I am so grateful for your direction (and your ladle!). Sara, you are so freaking articulate and you draw the best hearts. Thank you all for caring so deeply about the world in this book. Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Claudia Ballard, and Laura Bonner at WME, thank you for believing in You and knowing what to do with it. Natalie Sousa, you read my mind when you designed this cover. Thanks for that.

Countless Barnstable High School students would agree that we had the greatest teachers in the world. Mick Carlon and Ed O’Toole, your encouragement had profound impact on me. Linda Friedman, Meredith Steinbach, thank you for being a wonderful mentors. Matt DiGangi, thanks for masterminding Thieves Jargon. Lauren Acampora Doyle, you are a wonderful, wise pollo, and I thank you for introducing me to Alloy goddess Sara Shepard. Thank you, cousin Tommi Hurme for picklebacks, and thank you, cousin Kristiina Hurme for your support. These things help when you are writing a stalker book.

I started You after losing my father to cancer. My friends, I owe you: Amy Sanborn, I am so lucky to have known you since I was in the womb. Lauren Heller, you are a gift. Sarah Tatting-Kinzy, you are a true listener, an incredible friend. Matt Donnelly (and Corky and Pinky), I am so grateful for our inspiring times in Splendorea. June Hurme, Kathleen Kelly, thank you for wanting to know what happens next. Lorena David Esguerra, George Esguerra, Dylan’s Roald Dahl guest suite was divine. Lia and Todd Haberman, thank you for the donuts. Crispin Struthers, thanks for being there. Nicholas Fonseca, you lift me up. Sharon and Paul Swartz, I’m grateful for my writer’s retreat (and pancakes!) at the Cape Point Hotel. Sophia Macheras, it meant so much to me when you loved “Owen.” Michael Wyman, you are the best; love ya babe, don’t change. Thanks and love to Eric Scott Cooper, Frank Medrano, Beverly Leiberman, Karen and Howie Onik, Erin Penner, Jen and Jon Sackett, Korbi Ghosh, Josh Wyman, Auntie Carole and Uncle Den. Macherases, Swartzes, Wymans, cousins, family, I love you. I could fill a book with more names, and then another book. I’m lucky to know so many splendid souls.

Love and hugs to my brave brother, Alex, my Xanadu sister, Beth, and my awesome nephews, Jonathan and Joshua. And now, my parents, Monica and Harold Kepnes, thank you for creating a home where Led Zeppelin and laughter dominated. Dad, I wish you were here to celebrate. You and Mom have believed in me since I started writing about stolen axes in my Hello Kitty diary and hoarding Sweet Valley High books. That means everything. You inspire me, always.

Finally, thank you to the artists whose works are referenced in this book. You rock.