Authors: E. M. Kokie
Tags: #Social Issues, #Family, #Juvenile Fiction, #Military & Wars, #General, #Homosexuality, #Parents, #Historical, #Siblings, #Fiction, #Death & Dying
My agent, Chris Richman, Michael Stearns, and everyone else at Upstart Crow Literary.
Everyone at Candlewick Press, most especially my editor, Andrea Tompa; Pam Consolazio, who designed the cover; Nathan Pyritz, who designed the interior; my copyeditor, Kate Herrmann; the copy chief, Hannah Mahoney; and the entire marketing and sales teams.
My critique group while I was writing
Personal Effects:
Kashmira Sheth, Judy Bryan, Georgia Beaverson, and Bridget Zinn. (Bridget won’t get to read this note, but she knew how much I valued her friendship, her unique worldview, and her support. I wish she were here for this last step and for the celebratory cake).
My early readers, including Robin Smith, Dean Schneider, and Andrew Medlar.
All of my writing friends, with special thanks to my friends at the Absolute Write forums (especially all those who have shared the journey in Purgatory), my fellow members of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the members of the Apocalypsies.
My family’s love and encouragement makes everything about this sweeter. Thank you, Mom, Dad, Scott, Mary, Amanda, Peg, and Ian — and even Tyler, Emily Ruth, Douglas, and Samuel, who I hope someday, when they are older, will read this book.
Finally, K.T., there are not words enough to say thank you, for all you do and all you are. Every day and for many reasons, I am thankful for having you in my life. (And, because it really must be said, thank you for enduring countless reads of slightly tweaked paragraphs without asking
too
often, “What’s different?”)
E. M. KOKIE
is a lawyer who has long had an interest in literature for teens. She says, “Being a lawyer isn’t so different from being a writer — the same observant and analytical nature that helps me see a dispute from multiple points of view also helps me get inside the head of a character and see the world through his eyes. From the beginning, Matt’s voice felt so strong and real to me — I could practically taste his anger and frustration. I wrote the rest of the novel to get to know him better, to figure out why he was so angry.” E. M. Kokie lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2012 by E. M. Kokie
Cover photograph copyright © 2012 by Adam Hirons/Millennium Images, UK
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2012
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Kokie, E. M.
Personal effects / E. M. Kokie. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Matt has been sleepwalking through life while seeking answers about his brother T.J.’s death in Iraq, but after discovering that he may not have known his brother as well as he thought he did, Matt is able to stand up to his father, honor T.J.’s memory, and take charge of his own life.
ISBN 978-0-7636-5527-3 (hardcover)
[1. Brothers — Fiction. 2. Grief — Fiction. 3. Fathers and sons — Fiction. 4. High schools — Fiction. 5. Schools — Fiction. 6. Soldiers — Fiction. 7. Iraq War, 2003–2011 — Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.K83132P
ER
2012
[Fic] — dc23 2011048364
ISBN 978-0-7636-6203-5 (electronic)
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