All the Bright Places

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Every forty seconds, someone in the world dies by suicide. Every
forty seconds, someone is left behind to cope with the loss.

Long before I was born, my great-grandfather died of a self-
in icted gunshot wound. His oldest child, my grandfather, was just
thirteen. No one knew if it was intentional or accidental—and being
from a small town in the South, my grandfather and his mother and
sisters never discussed it. But that death has a ected our family for
generations.

Several years ago, a boy I knew and loved killed himself. I was
the one who discovered him. The experience was not something I
wanted to talk about, even with the people closest to me. To this
day, many of my family and friends still don’t know much, if
anything, about it. For a long time, it was too painful to even think
about, much less talk about, but it is important to talk about what
happened.

In All the Bright Places, Finch worries a lot about labels. There is,
unfortunately, a good deal of stigma surrounding suicide and mental
illness. When my great-grandfather died, people gossiped. Although
his widow and his three children never spoke about what happened
that day, they felt silently judged and, to some extent, ostracized. I
lost my friend to suicide a year before I lost my father to cancer.
They were both ill at the same time, and they died within fourteen
months of each other, but the reaction to their illnesses and deaths
could not have been more di erent. People rarely bring owers to a
suicide.

It was only when writing this book that I learned my own label—
Survivor After Suicide, or Survivor of Suicide. Fortunately, there are

numerous resources to help me make sense of this tragic thing that
happened and how it a ects me, just as there are numerous
resources to help anyone, teen or adult, who is struggling with
emotional upheaval, depression, anxiety, mental instability, or
suicidal thoughts.

Often, mental and emotional illnesses go undiagnosed because the
person su ering symptoms is too ashamed to speak up, or because
their loved ones either fail to or choose not to recognize the signs.
According to Mental Health America, an estimated 2.5 million
Americans are known to have bipolar disorder, but the actual
number is a good two to three times higher than that. As many as
80 percent of people with this illness go undiagnosed or
misdiagnosed.

If you think something is wrong, speak up.
You are not alone.
It is not your fault.
Help is out there.

SUICIDE PREVENTION

American Association of Suicidology (AAS)—suicidology.org

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)—afsp.org

IMAlive—imalive.org

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline—

suicidepreventionlifeline.org (1-800-273-TALK)

DIAGNOSING MENTAL ILLNESS IN TEENS

Helpguide—helpguide.org

Mental Health America (MHA)—mentalhealthamerica.net

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)—nami.org

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)—nimh.nih.gov

Teen Mental Health—teenmentalhealth.org

SURVIVORS
Mayo Clinic—mayoclinic.com/health/suicide/MH00048
SOS: A Handbook for Survivors of Suicide by Je rey Jackson

(published by AAS)— available online, along with other helpful
resources, at www.suicidology.org/suicide-survivors/suicide-loss-
survivors

BULLYING
Stomp Out Bullying—stompoutbullying.org
StopBullying—stopbullying.gov

ABUSE
Childhelp—childhelpusa.org
National Child Abuse Hotline—1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In June of 2013, two days after nishing up work on my seventh
book and sending it o to my New York publisher, I had an idea for
another story, in spite of the fact that I was burned out and ready
for a much-needed break—I’ve been writing back-to-back books for
the past couple of years.

This idea was di erent, however. For one thing, it was personal.
For another, it was YA. I’ve spent my career in adult ction and
non ction but, creatively, I was ready for something di erent.

I wanted to write something edgy.
I wanted to write something contemporary.
I wanted to write something tough, hard, sad, but funny.
I wanted to write from a boy’s point of view.
In July, I signed with the most wonderful and amazing agent
(champion, partner, editor) a girl could have. Thank you to the
incomparable Kerry Sparks for believing in that rst fty pages and
me. No one will ever know what her belief and enthusiasm meant at
that particular time in my life. I wake up every day counting my
lucky stars for Kerry and all the fantastic folks at Levine Greenberg
Rostan (especial thanks to Monika Verma and Elizabeth Fisher).
They make me lovely.
So does Allison Wortche, my brilliant editor, who is as savvy and
insightful as she is warm and kind, and who is as invested in Finch
and Violet as I am. Their story would not be the same without her
skilled hand. She and the entire team at Knopf and Random House
Children’s Books (President and Publisher Barbara Marcus; Vice
President and Publishing Director Nancy Hinkel; Senior Vice
President and Associate Publisher Judith Haut; Isabel Warren-Lynch,

Alison Impey, and Stephanie Moss in Design; Artie Bennett, as well
as aces Renée Ca ero and Katharine Wiencke, in Copyediting;
Managing Editor Shasta Clinch; Tim Terhune and Barbara Cho in
Production; Pam White and Jocelyn Lange in Sub Rights; Felicia
Frazier, John Adamo, Kim Lauber, Lynn Kestin, Stephanie O’Cain,
Adrienne Waintraub, Laura Antonacci, Dominique Cimina, Lydia
Finn, and the rest of Sales, Marketing, and Publicity) have created
the brightest of places for me to live, breathe, and work, and I am
thrilled out of my head to be there.

I’m also thrilled to be working with my wondrous lm agent,
Sylvie Rabineau, and RWSG Literary Agency.

Thank you to my family and friends for unwavering support, even
when I am insu erably consumed by my work (which is most of the
time). I couldn’t do it without you. Special thanks to my favorite
cousin, Annalise von Sprecken, my consultant on all things teen-
related and the person who gave me “________ is life.”

Thank you to Louis, love of my life and partner in more ways than
one, who has had to endure hours of worrying, brainstorming,
outlining, suicide-fact reciting, querying (“What if Violet and Finch
met on the bell tower ledge?” “What if Finch and Roamer used to be
friends?” “What if Amanda was at Life Is Life too?”), not to mention
hours of One Direction listening (my own personal Boy Parade). He,
more than anyone else (with the exception of our three literary
cats), has lived this book with me.

Thank you, John Ivers (Blue Flash, Blue Too) and Mike
Carmichael (World’s Biggest Ball of Paint), for creating such
uniquely awesome, wander-worthy sites, and for letting me use your
real names.

Thank you to my very rst editor, Will Schwalbe, who remains a
wise mentor and cherished friend. And to Amanda Brower and
Jennifer Gerson U alussy for leading me to Kerry Sparks.

Thank you, Briana Harley, for being my go-to one-girl band of a
YA focus group. Thank you, Lara Yacoubian, for being the World’s
Best Assistant Ever.

Thanks to the Germ girls and guys for all you are and do,
particularly Louis, Jordan, Briana Bailey, Shannon, Shelby, and

Lara. You are the prettiest girls (and boys) anywhere.
Thank you to the generous people (who wish to remain nameless)

who shared their personal stories of mental illness, depression, and
suicide. And to the experts at the American Association of
Suicidology, the Mayo Clinic, and the National Institute of Mental
Health.

Thanks most of all to my beautiful mother and fellow author,
Penelope Niven, who made the world lovelier just by being in it.
She was my best friend. She was my best everything.

We used to say to each other, “You are my best.” And she was.
And she always will be. She taught me from childhood that my
mountain was waiting, and she never stopped encouraging me to
keep climbing. Her unexpected death on August 28, 2014, was the
single worst event of my life. This book, and all the books to follow,
are because of her and for her. To quote Theodore Finch, You are all
the colors in one, at full brightness.

Lastly, thanks to my great-grandfather Olin Niven. And to the boy
I loved who died too soon, but who left me a song.

And in two weeks we’ll y again,

perhaps a Chinese dinner then.

You make me happy, you make me smile.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

All the Bright Places is Jennifer Niven’s rst book for young adult
readers, but she has written four novels for adults—American Blonde,
Becoming Clementine, Velva Jean Learns to Fly, and Velva Jean Learns
to Drive—as well as three non ction books—The Ice Master, Ada
Blackjack, and The Aqua Net Diaries, a memoir about her high school
experiences. Although she grew up in Indiana, she now lives with
her ancé and three literary cats in Los Angeles, which remains her
favorite place to wander. For more information, visit
JenniferNiven.com and GermMagazine.com, or nd her on
Facebook.