The Night Parade (22 page)

Words cannot reflect the true depth of gratitude I owe to the people behind these pages. The journey to this book lasted much longer than three days and nights.

To Thao Le, my amazing agent, and to the wonderful team at Sourcebooks.

To Saori Moriizumi, Yumi Kusunoki, Maaya Ikeda, and Jess Hisamoto. To all of my classmates at Knox, some of whom were kind enough to read the very first drafts of this novel and not immediately tell me to burn it.

To my professors: Ryohei Matsuda, Barbara Tannert-Smith, Gina Franco, Chad Simpson, Nick Regiacorte, Robin Metz, and Cyn Kitchen.

To my friends from Sunset, who supported me from the very beginning. To my friends in Gunma, who supported me no less near the end. To Jackie Morgon, Natalie Bennett, and Peter Frazer, my brave beta-readers. To Nick Knoske for talking me down the query letter cliff. To Julie Israel, my lifelong friend and inspiration.

To Hiromi Oike, Setsuko Miyata, Akane Suto, and all of the other teachers at Omama Higashi Junior High School. To Kunihiko Shimizu.

To my students, who taught me more than they'll ever know.

And to my family, whose love and support let me follow my dreams half a world away. I hope my mother knows just how much I adore and admire her.

Kathryn Tanquary grew up in Portland, Oregon. She attended Ridgewood Elementary School, where she had the chance to visit its sister school: Katoh Gakuen in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. She has a BA in creative w
riting from Knox College and spent one year abroad at Waseda University's School of International Liberal Studies in Tokyo. After graduation, she taught English as a Foreign Language at a junior high school in Midori City, Gunma Prefecture. She currently resides in Tokyo.

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