The Thing About Luck

combines moving slowly in tandem, the moon hanging over the field. It was wabi- sabi.

I knew going out to talk to Mick now wouldn’t make him feel better. A twelve-year-old girl didn’t mean a hill of beans to him. I couldn’t help. It was just like we couldn’t help Jaz to make friends at school, and just like I couldn’t change Jenson’s life with a simple hello. Still, as my dad liked to say, “You do what you can do.” Maybe I would talk to Jenson again. Maybe I would keep looking for friends for Jaz back home.

I got back into bed, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I knew something: Our year of bad luck had ended. It had begun when I caught malaria, and it had ended here tonight. Maybe I’d known that earlier, and that was why I had walked down the middle of the highway so happily. Anyway, I needed to get some sleep, because I’d have another long night tomorrow. I closed my eyes and saw the header, spinning ... spinning ... spinning.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’m deeply indebted to George Miyamoto for his big, big heart and also to Caitlyn Dlouhy—I’m quite certain there is no better editor than her in New York. Thanks as well to everyone at Simon & Schuster, including publisher Justin Chanda; Ariel Colletti; Russell Gordon, who creates such glorious covers; and managing editor extraordinaire Jeannie Ng. I’m also indebted to uberagent Gail Hochman and to copy editor Cindy Nixon, who has been keeping me out of trouble for almost ten years.

Two harvesters were of incalculable help: Wendy and Taff Hughes, including their kids Shiani, Mikey, and Zeb, as well as all of Hughes Custom Harvesting, who let me visit with them in Kansas; showed me around Childress, Texas; annnnnd let me badger them constantly—talk about generous! Jenna Zeorian of Zeorian Harvesting spoke with me, patiently answered numerous e-mails, and read the manuscript multiple times. Are all harvesters this wonderful?

I’d also like to express appreciation for others who helped me with the research for this book. In alphabetical order: Dr. Lisa Blum, child psychologist; mosquito expert Richard Lampman, PhD, Entomology; Irish combine driver Rob Langley; Reiko Lee, who read the whole manuscript to check my Japanese; Yuki Nyhan, who also helped with the Japanese; Cyrene Puccio, who once caught malaria and who shared her experiences with me; Keith Sharpe, who, like Rob, checked the Irish idioms; and Japanese speaker Asako Suzuki.

—C. K.

About the Authors

CYNTHIA KADOHATA actually rode a 30,000-pound combine to write this novel. She is the author of the Newbery Medal—winning Kira-Kira; Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam; Weedflower, which won the 2007 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Children’s Literature and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Older Children; Outside Beauty; A Million Shades of Gray; and several critically acclaimed adult novels, including The Floating World. She lives with her son and two dogs in Covina, California.