by Ahmet Zappa
Wisher: The Wishling who has made the wish that is being granted.
Wish-House: The place where Wish Orbs are planted and cared for until they sparkle.
Wishlings: The inhabitants of Wishworld.
Wish Mission: The task a Starling undertakes when she travels to Wishworld to help grant a wish.
Wish Orb: The form a wish takes on Wishworld before traveling to Starland. It will grow and sparkle when it’s time to grant the wish.
Wish Pendant: A gadget that absorbs and transports wish energy, helps Starlings locate their Wishers, and changes a Starling’s appearance. Each Wish Pendant holds a different special power for its Star Darling.
Wish-Watcher: A Starling whose job is to observe the Good Wish Orbs until they glow, indicating that they are ready to be granted.
Wishworld: The planet Starland relies on for wish energy. The beings on Wishworld know it by another name—Earth.
Wishworld Outfit Selector: A program on each Star-Zap that accesses Wishworld fashions for Starlings to wear to blend in.
Wormholes: Starling expression of dismay.
Zing: A traditional Starling breakfast drink. It can be enjoyed hot or iced.
Zoomberry: Small, sweetly tart berries that grow in abundance on Starland.
It is impossible to list all of our gratitude, but we will try.
Our most precious gift and greatest teacher, Halo; we love you more than there are stars in the sky…punashaku. To the rest of our crazy, awesome, unique tribe—thank you for teaching us to go for our dreams. Integrity. Strength. Love. Foundation. Family. Grateful. Mimi Muldoon—from your star doodling to naming our Star Darlings, your artistry, unconditional love, and inspiration is infinite. Didi Muldoon—your belief and support in us is only matched by your fierce protection and massive-hearted guidance. Gail. Queen G. Your business sense and witchy wisdom are legendary. Frank—you are missed and we know you are watching over us all. Along with Tutu, Nana, and Deda, who are always present, gently guiding us in spirit. To our colorful, totally genius, and bananas siblings: Patrick, Moon, Diva, and Dweezil—there is more creativity and humor in those four names than most people experience in a lifetime. Blessed. To our magical nieces—Mathilda, Zola, Ceylon, and Mia—the Star Darlings adore you and so do we. Our witchy cuzzie fairy godmothers—Ane and Gina. Our fairy fashion godfather, Paris. Our sweet Panay. Teeta and Freddy—we love you so much. And our four-legged fur babies—Sandwich, Luna, Figgy, and Pinky Star.
The incredible Barry Waldo. Our SD partner. Sent to us from above in perfect timing. Your expertise and friendship are beyond words. We love you and Gary to the moon and back. Long live the manifestation room!
Catherine Daly—the stars shined brightly upon us the day we aligned with you. Your talent and inspiration are otherworldly; our appreciation cannot be expressed in words. Many heartfelt hugs for you and the adorable Oonagh.
To our beloved Disney family. Thank you for believing in us. Wendy Lefkon, our master guide and friend through this entire journey. Stephanie Lurie, for being the first to believe in Star Darlings. Suzanne Murphy, who helped every step of the way. Jeanne Mosure, we fell in love with you the first time we met, and Star Darlings wouldn’t be what it is without you. Andrew Sugerman, thank you so much for all your support.
Our team…Devon (pony pants) and our Monsterfoot crew—so grateful. Richard Scheltinga—our angel and protector. Chris Abramson—thank you! Special appreciation to Richard Thompson, John LaViolette, Swanna, Mario, and Sam.
To our friends old and new—we are so grateful to be on this rad journey that is life with you all. Fay. Jorja. Chandra. Sananda. Sandy. Kathryn. Louise. What wisdom and strength you share. Ruth, Mike, and the rest of our magical Wagon Wheel bunch—how lucky we are. How inspiring you are. We love you.
Last—we have immeasurable gratitude for every person we’ve met along our journey, for all the good and the bad; it is all a gift. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for touching our lives.
Keep reading for a sneak peek at Star Darlings: Vega and the Fashion Disaster!
Vega sat on her neatly made bed, staring at the holo–crossword puzzle projected into the air above her Star-Zap. With two flicks of her wrist, she switched the position of two answers, then frowned and returned them to their original places. She nodded, finally satisfied. It was perfect. Vega loved creating puzzles almost as much as she enjoyed solving them. She appreciated crosswords, riddles, puzzles, brainteasers, mazes, and games—anything that challenged her and made her think in a fun and interesting way.
With another flick of the wrist, she erased all the answers, leaving the clues and a blank grid, ready to be filled in. She took a look at her handiwork and sighed. The real joy in creating a puzzle was sharing it with someone. She wished she could send it to her best friend from home, Enna, who loved games just as much as she. The two girls had even made up a secret holo-alphabet they had both memorized so they could communicate privately. What looked like gibberish to their classmates back at Kaleidoscope Falls Elementary might be a complex message about after-school plans or the guest list for Enna’s upcoming Bright Day party.
Sure, Vega belonged to Starling Academy’s Puzzle Club, which met after school every Dododay and was filled with like-minded students. It was the first club she had joined since arriving at the school two years earlier. But the secret nature of the Star Darlings made this crossword something she could not share with anyone except them. So there were only eleven girls she could share it with, and unfortunately, none of them were particularly interested in brainteasers. In fact, they seemed to think Vega’s obsession was a little weird. Just a starweek or two earlier, she and Leona had found themselves sitting across from each other at lunchtime in the Celestial Café. After they had ordered their meals from the hovering Bot-Bot waiter, Vega had turned to Leona excitedly and said, “Let’s guess whose food will arrive first!” and Leona had just laughed. “Everything is a game to you, Vega, isn’t it?” she said. Vega had blinked at her in surprise. It was—and why not? Games made life more interesting. She didn’t get why the other girls didn’t understand that. Not that she wasn’t serious-minded—quite the contrary: she was as focused on her studies as a Starling could be. But she could make studying into a game, too.
As she recalled the conversation, Vega realized that was one of the last times she had heard Leona laugh. Her Wish Mission had been a terrible disappointment. Although she had successfully granted her Wisher’s wish, Leona’s Wish Pendant had malfunctioned, and when she had returned to Starland, she had discovered it was blackened and burnt-looking. As a result, Leona hadn’t collected a single drop of wish energy. The usually vivacious girl had been sad and withdrawn ever since. Lady Stella had done her best to convince her it wasn’t her fault, but Leona was set on blaming herself.
Lady Stella told everyone to keep attending class (including their special Star Darlings–only class at the end of each school day), learning their lessons, and going on their Wish Missions as planned. The headmistress would be working with some leading wish energy scientists and some trusted faculty members to figure out what had gone wrong with Leona’s Wish Pendant and how to fix it. Hopefully they would figure it out soon.
SHANA MULDOON ZAPPA is a jewelry designer and writer who was born and raised in Los Angeles. With an endless imagination, a passion to inspire positivity through her many artistic endeavors, and her background in fashion, Shana created Star Darlings. She and her husband, Ahmet Zappa, collaborated on Star Darlings especially for their magical little girl and biggest inspiration, Halo Violetta Zappa.
AHMET ZAPPA is the New York Times best-selling author of Because I’m Your Dad and The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless. He writes and produces films and television shows and loves pancakes, unicorns, and making funny faces for Halo and Shana.
