Laura Ruby - Good Girls (19 page)

T hanks to my editor, Clarissa Hutton, who was will- ing to take a chance when I wanted to write something completely different. Ellen Levine, who is equal parts agent and fairy godmother. Anne Ursu and Gretchen Moran Laskas, who push and prod and occasionally, prop me up--every writer should have such amazing friends. The 2005 Writefesters, especially Greg Leitich Smith, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Tanya Lee Stone, Libba Bray, and Sean Petrie, who braved both the first draft and my near-psychotic fretting over it later. Audrey Glassman Vernick, who kindly lent criticism, support,

273 and her first name. Carolyn Crimi, Esther Hershenhorn, Myra Sanderman, Esm� Raji Codell, and Franny Billingsley, who can take one cranky writer and make her laugh so hard and so long that she (almost) forgets how to be cranky. Melissa Ruby Horan, Annika Cioffi, Linda Rasmussen, and Tracey George, who have lis- tened for years and for some crazy reason, keep on lis- tening. My parents, who let me read everything I could get my hands on and answered every question without blushing. And finally, thanks to Steve, one of the good boys.

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Laura Ruby grew up in New Jersey in an era predating cell phones. She spent much of her misguided youth writing angry, angsty poems and dye- ing her hair lots of colors not found in nature. She now lives in Chicago with her husband and stepdaughters. She is also the author of three books for younger read- ers, LILY'S GHOSTS, THE WALL AND THE WING, and THE

CHAOS KING, and a collection of stories for adults, I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS. You can visit her online at www.lauraruby.com.

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Laura Ruby

LILY'S GHOSTS THE WALL AND THE WING

THE CHAOS KING

ii

Typography by Amy Ryan Cover photograph � 2006 by Ali Smith Cover design by Amy Ryan

GOOD GIRLS. Copyright � 2006 by Laura Ruby. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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