RAINN www.rainn.org
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation’s largest anti–sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help victims, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
Planned Parenthood www.plannedparenthood.org
America’s most trusted provider of reproductive health care and a respected leader in educating Americans about reproductive and sexual health.
Our Bodies Ourselves www.ourbodiesourselves.org
Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS) is a global feminist organization that distills and disseminates health information from the best scientific research available as well as women’s life experiences, so that the individuals and communities they reach can make informed decisions about health, reproduction, and sexuality.
Advocates for Youth www.advocatesforyouth.org
Advocates for Youth partners with youth leaders, adult allies, and youth-serving organizations to advocate for policies and champion programs that recognize young people’s rights to honest sexual health information; accessible, confidential, and affordable sexual health services; and the resources and opportunities necessary to create sexual health equity for all youth.
Stop Sexual Assault in Schools www.ssais.org
SSAIS is spearheading the movement for awareness of sexual harassment and sexual assault in K–12 schools in order to prevent it, support victims, inform students about their rights, and empower them to protect their peers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, as always, thank you to my tireless cheerleader and agent, Amy Tipton.
My editor at Simon Pulse, Liesa Abrams. You are this book’s soul mate editor. I could not have gotten luckier. Your passion and devotion to this book were boundless. Thank you for believing in Grace, Rosina, and Erin. And me.
Everyone at Simon Pulse and Simon & Schuster who went above and beyond the call of duty to advocate and care for this book. I know I had a whole army fighting for The Nowhere Girls, and even though I don’t know all your names, I am grateful for each and every one of you.
My foreign rights agent, Taryn Fagerness, for taking my girls across the pond.
The Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities Writer-in-Residence program, for giving me such a beautiful space to finish my first draft.
Trudy Hale at The Porches writing retreat in Virginia, for being my home away from home, and for the silence.
Thank you to my community in Asheville, North Carolina, for inspiring aspects of the resistance in this book. Readers may have heard of the event in September 2015 where the owners of  Waking Life, one of my neighborhood coffee shops, were revealed to be behind a misogynist podcast series and Internet postings, including a graphic and degrading list of sexual conquests involving local women, which inspired the Real Men of Prescott blog posts in The Nowhere Girls. The people of Asheville immediately responded by boycotting the business, sending a clear message that the men’s blatant sexism and abuse of women in our community would not be tolerated. Local businesses stopped carrying their products. Men and women stood together outside in protest. Within a couple of weeks, the owners left town, disgraced. Asheville made it clear that it will stand up for women, that it will stand up to misogyny and sexism. I am proud of my mountain town.
Angélica Wind, Executive Director of Our VOICE, for reading an early draft of this book, and for the tireless work you do serving survivors of sexual assault and abuse in Western North Carolina.
Immense gratitude to my beta and sensitivity readers: Emily Cashwell, Jennie Eagle, Kimberly Egget, Stefanie Kalem, Alison Knowles, Constance Lombardo, Natalie Ortega, Meagan Rivera, Michelle Santamaria, Kaylee Spencer, Nana Twumasi, and Victoria Vertner. Very special thanks to Stephanie Kuehnert, plot-whisperer. You all helped breathe fire into this book.
Lyn Miller-Lachmann, for her wonderful book Rogue, and for steering me in the right direction. For invaluable insight about living with autism, and writing about life with autism, thank you to wrongplanet.net; L.C. Mawson’s blog, lcmawson.com; Tania Marshall’s blog, taniaannmarshall.wordpress.com; Samantha Craft’s blogs, everydayaspergers.com and everydayaspie.wordpress.com; and disabilityinkidlit.com, especially posts by Corinne Duyvis and Elizabeth Bartmess.
My most profound and humble gratitude goes to Jen Wilde and Meredith McGhan, for the depth of their generosity in sharing their experiences with me, and for their honest (and sometimes hard to hear) feedback. You pushed me to be a better writer, and a better person. Everything I got right about Erin is due to the help of these fierce and brilliant women. Anything I got wrong is my fault alone.
Thank you to Brian, for being my home. And Elouise, for being my hope. You are my light in the darkness.
Always, more than anything, thank you to my readers and teens everywhere, who continue to inspire me with your courage and compassion. Keep resisting. Keep speaking your truth. The world needs your voices, now more than ever.