Hello readers,

I don't always like to come to Goodreads because I want to honour its place as a space for readers to talk with each other - and I'm a bit sensitive about reviews - but I wanted to use this space to apologize for using the word retarded in my first novel, Bottle Rocket Hearts. Since I wrote that book, I've stopped using that word casually, as was common (but still inexcusable) in the early aughts, and I wish I could delete it from the book. My sincere apologies to those who come across it and are jarred. It's obviously an offensive word and a slur I can't believe I used in a book that is about a girl coming out as a queer femme, becoming politicized and learning to fight for the rights of marginalized people. My own consciousness about disability rights was late coming and I apologize and will try to delete the word from future printings, should there be any.