Beth Revis: Across the Universe

I shut my eyes and take a deep breath, but all I smell is metal. The life I’d once known is forever gone. My air will never smell of summer or spring, real rain or snow.

I open my eyes and see the last thing Harley saw before he left us. Maybe the secret of the stars has nothing to do with being alone.

I reach behind me, and Elder is there. Like he always has been. He grabs my hand, but I shake loose.

I’m not ready for that.

But… if my life on Earth must end, let it end with a promise.

Let it end with hope.

I wrap my pinkie around his. He squeezes my finger, and this world doesn’t feel so cold anymore.

“Will you stay with me?” I whisper.

“Always.”

I’d like to thank everyone on the Penguin/Razorbill team-you all made this book look brilly. Special thanks to Ben Schrank and Gillian Levinson, who helped make Across the Universe into the book I’d always intended it to be, but somehow didn’t get on the page without their insightful edits, questions, and suggestions. Thanks also to Emily Romero, Erin Dempsey, Courtney Wood, and the rest of Penguin marketing, and to my amazingly talented designer, Natalie Sousa.

I couldn’t have joined the team at Penguin without Merrilee Heifetz, who matched me with the perfect publisher, and I couldn’t have done that without Jennifer Escott, who matched me with the perfect agent. Thank you both for guiding me through the world of publication with such enthusiasm!

The best part about being a writer is having writing friends. Robyn Campbell and Rebecca Carlson helped me hammer out the first draft of Across the Universe , Heather Zundel and Christina Farley helped me break it to pieces and write it back better, and Erin Anderson, PJ Hoover, and Christine Marciniak told me Across the Universe was finally done and I should just submit it already.

I’ve spent most of my years in some school or another, but by far the best ones were the six I spent teaching literature at Burns High School. To all of my students: you were all my favorite. Special thanks to Charly White, who painted a picture of a fish on my podium and inspired the character Harley. Thanks also to my friend and fellow teacher Laura Parker and my friend (who’s not a teacher and quite happy about it) Jennifer Randolph for supporting my writing career.

There are three people who always believed in me more than I did and who never once thought I wouldn’t see my name on a book cover: my parents, Ted and JoAnne Graham, and my husband, Corwin Revis.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.