A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

have also done an amazing job of helping my work reach new countries and be published in more than a dozen languages, which is a dream come true. So many people at Dutton helped this come together. Kaitlin Kall’s cover design, Tiffany Estreicher’s book design, proofreading from Eileen Chetti, Alice Dalrymple, and Rob Sternitzky, the marketing and publicity teams, especially Amanda Walker and Emily Canders, and so many others. It is really wonderful to know how many people it takes to bring a book into the world. Thank you to everyone at Dutton for getting books into the hands of readers.

I had so many early readers helping me understand the nuances of writing characters who are very different from me. I consider those people my editors as well and I learned a tremendous amount from them. Those people include Gaby Dunn, Ashley Ford, Taylor Behnke, and Phyllida Swift. Also, I have to say, it seems so unlikely that I would find a trained editor who is Chinese Trinidadian, but Danielle Goodman is exactly that!

Thank you to Lindsay Ellis, who gave me so many amazing ideas and perspectives on an early draft of this book.

Gabriela Elena and Ketie Saner created a timeline of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, which came in handy a dozen times while writing this book, so much so that I hired them to help me construct the timeline of this book, and their help was invaluable.

There are also people who had no idea they were helping, like Harvey Sugiuchi, who was a student of a friend of mine and, when she asked her class what magical item they wish they had, he said, “I want a book of good times that can take me to the best place to relax and have fun at any given moment. It also has stuff like recipes in it.”

Thank you also to every person who advocates for a book . . . who gets on that book’s team and pushes for it. There is so much great work out there, and for some reason, sometimes we need our arms twisted to indulge in it. So, whether you’re a bookseller, a librarian, or just that pesky friend, thank you for twisting those arms!

If you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably aware, but if you’re not, my life has been bizarre and extremely fortunate. A huge part of that is the community of people who find entertainment and identity and connection in the content my brother and I make on YouTube. Those people have enabled so many good and cool things to happen, and this book is one more of those things. I never stop being grateful for the insight and opportunity that community has given me.

And lastly, let’s go with my brother, John, who is a near-perfect collaborator and advisor. Yes, he gave me notes on this book, but more than that, we have given each other notes on just about every decision either of us has made in the past fifteen years, and we are both way better off because of it. He and my parents and my wife and my son and, honestly, my whole family were the greatest stroke of luck I have ever received, and I’ve gotten some doozies.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hank Green is the number one New York Times bestselling author of An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. He’s also the CEO of Complexly, a production company that creates educational content, including Crash Course and SciShow, prompting The Washington Post to name him “one of America’s most popular science teachers.” Complexly’s videos have been viewed more than two billion times on YouTube. Hank and his brother, John, are also raising money to dramatically and systematically improve maternal health care in Sierra Leone, where, if trends continue, one in seventeen women will die in childbirth. You can join them at PIH.org/hankandjohn.

PERMISSIONS

“Senses Working Overtime”

Words and Music by Andy Partridge

Copyright © 1982 BMG VM Music Ltd.

All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC

All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC.

Excerpt of “Young” written by Parissa Tosif and David Ansari (as originally recorded by Vallis Alps), courtesy of Just Isn’t Music.

“If U Seek Amy” by Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, Johan Schuster, and Max Martin.

© 2008 EMI Blackwood Music Inc. &_________________.

All rights on behalf of EMI Blackwood Music Inc. administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219.

All rights reserved. Used by permission.

“If U Seek Amy”

Words and Music by Alexander Kronlund, Martin Sandberg, Savan Kotecha, and Johan Schuster

Copyright © 2008 Warner Chappell Music Scandinavia AB, MXM Music AB,

KMR Music Royalties II SCSP, EMI Blackwood Music Inc,

and Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing

All Rights on Behalf of Warner Chappell Music Scandinavia AB

Administered by WC Music Corp.

All Rights Reserved.

Used By Permission of Alfred Music.

“If U Seek Amy” by Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, Johan Schuster, and Max Martin.

©2008 EMI Blackwood Music Inc. & MXM Music AB

All rights on behalf of EMI Blackwood Music Inc. and MXM Music AB administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219 and Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc., 2 Gansevoort, 6th Fl., New York, NY 10014.

All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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