This was why it had to be now, why they had to stand in this place on this planet, and celebrate what they had while remembering what they had lost. It was for the balance of it, the good measured out to offset the bad, but neither of them forgotten or erased.
When Miara looked back to the platform, Leia was smiling, her face radiant as she stood at the center of attention. It wasn’t a political smile; Miara had seen enough of those to know them. It was real.
Miara felt something in her own chest unclench, freeing the emotions she’d been holding back since Alderaan had disappeared in a blaze of fire, unsure if she was entitled to feel them. Raada was gone. Alderaan was gone. Her sister lived. She lived. She had her crew and her ship, and soon she would have a mission again. She stood on Yavin 4 and breathed green air.
With grief on her cheeks and hope in her heart, Miara Larte added her voice to those in the cavern who celebrated the living and remembered the dead. It would be a long night, she knew. She had lived long nights before. But in the morning, by whatever sun, she would get up and she would rebel.
At last it is time…I have heard every version of the story, viewed every holocron, and studied every artifact. A lifetime of preparation has readied me for this noble duty. May the Force be with me as I begin the sacred task of writing in the Journal of the Whills…
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
Well, I mean it’s not really that far away, is it?
What are you talking about?
“Far, far away”? I’m saying it’s “far,” but not “far, far.”
Uh…
I mean, if anything I’d say it’s a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away.
Yeah, well the rest of the Whills asked me to write this, not you.
So it’s going to say…
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
It is a period of civil war.
A “period”? Wow, you really like to keep things vague, don’t you?
Good grief, what do you want me to put: “It is a Thursday afternoon of civil war”?
No, that’s stupid. Maybe the problem is that passive voice. “It is a…” Kinda weak! You should really start with an action verb.
It’s the first sentence, dude. If you nitpick every single sentence of this journal, we aren’t even going to get to the battles.
All right, fine. Keep it…It could be better, but…
Rebel spaceships, striking
from a hidden base, have won
their first victory against the
evil Galactic Empire.
Whoa, whoa, whoa…The Empire and the rebels?
Uh, yeah.
Already? What about the Republic?
What about it?
You’re just going to skip over the Republic? Don’t tell me you’re skipping the Clone Wars and all of that stuff?
Well…yeah…
What about Anakin and Padmé and the sand and—
I figured I could just sort of make some mysterious references to all that.
Mysterious references? What about Darth Maul? He’s just going to be a mysterious reference?
Actually, I’m not sure. I wasn’t really planning on mentioning him.
Not mention Darth Maul?!?! Darth? Maul?
No…
Next you’re going to tell me that you weren’t planning to mention Captain Rex, Ahsoka, Ventress, Cad Bane, Savage Opress, Jar Jar, and the Mandalorians?
Well…I guess I could always go back and tell their stories later.
Out of order? That’s just going to confuse everybody!
I think they’ll figure it out.
Uh-huh, right. Wait, I know! Maybe you could add numbers to the beginning of each part. You know, like maybe this one starts out “A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away: Episode 4.”
That seems kind of—
Ooh, I got an idea! What if you made it “IV”? That would be fancier. And you could give each episode a title. Like, uh, “Episode VII: Blue Harvest”!
Well, that’s just weird, but if I promise to call it Episode IV and think of a great title, will you let me get on with this?
Yeah, cool, keep going. You’re about to get to the good stuff: Jyn Erso, Orson Krennic, K-2SO…
During the battle, Rebel spies
managed to steal secret plans to
the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the
DEATH STAR, an armored space
station with enough power to
destroy an entire planet.
Wait, that was it? What about Erso? What about K-2SO?
I’m planning to start with R2-D2 and C-3PO.
Okay, now you’re just being crazy. You’re going to skip over K-2SO, the Best. Droid. Ever. And start with a protocol droid??? What the Hutt, dude?
I mean, R2—yes, he’s awesome—but if you’re going to skip anybody you should skip C-3PO! All he does is whine.
I can’t skip him; he’s really important on Endor.
Endor? Wait a minute, you’re not putting in the teddy bears, are you?
They’re not teddy bears! The Ewoks are fierce warriors. The top of the food chain on a savage planet!
Okay, first of all, they live on a moon, not a planet. Second of all—
Look, just save it! They’re not going in this episode anyway.
Well, what is in this episode? You’re skipping everything!
Well, Princess Leia will be in it if you ever let me get started.
Okay, cool, good. She’s awesome!
Pursued by the Empire’s sinister
agents, Princess Leia races home
aboard her starship, custodian of—
Custodian? Seriously? People are going to think this is a movie about a janitor!
Oh my Jabba! You are driving me nuts! Do you have to nitpick every single word?!
It’s just constructive criticism. Can’t you even take a little constructive criticism? I mean if you can’t take constructive criticism maybe you’re not the best Whill for the job.
Oh, I guess you think you can do better?
Honestly? Yes, I do.
Then why don’t you go write your own journal and leave me alone?
Okay, fine, you know what? I will! I’ve got some great ideas for an episode about how Chewbacca’s family celebrates Life Day!
Okay, great, off you go. Now, where was I?
Custodian.
Right…
Princess Leia races home
aboard her starship, custodian of
the stolen plan that can save her
people and restore freedom to the
galaxy…
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
All participating authors have generously forgone any compensation for their stories. Instead, their proceeds will be donated to First Book—a leading nonprofit that provides new books, learning materials, and other essentials to educators and organizations serving children in need. To further celebrate the launch of this book and both companies’ long-standing relationships with First Book, Penguin Random House has donated $100,000 to First Book, and Disney/Lucasfilm has donated one hundred thousand children’s books—valued at $1 million—to support First Book and their mission of providing equal access to quality education. Over the past sixteen years, Disney and Penguin Random House combined have donated more than eighty-eight million books to First Book.
BEN ACKER and BEN BLACKER are the creators and writers/producers of the Thrilling Adventure Hour, a staged show in the style of old-time radio that is also a podcast on the Nerdist network. In television, they have written for CW’s Supernatural, DreamWorks/Netflix’s Puss in Boots, and FX’s Cassius and Clay. They’ve also developed original pilots for Fox, USA (twice), Spike, Paramount, Nickelodeon, and other entities. In comics, they’ve written for Marvel, Dynamite, Boom!, and others. Acker has written for PRI’s Wits. Blacker is the creator and host of The Writers Panel, a podcast about the business and process of writing, as well as its spin-off, the Nerdist C
omics Panel. He’s the producer of Dead Pilots Society, a podcast in which unproduced television pilots by established writers are given the table reads they so richly deserve.
RENÉE AHDIEH is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling The Wrath and the Dawn and The Rose and the Dagger. In her spare time, she likes to dance salsa and collect shoes. She is passionate about all kinds of curry, rescue dogs, and college basketball. The first few years of her life were spent in a high-rise in South Korea; consequently, Renée enjoys having her head in the clouds. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and their tiny overlord of a dog.
TOM ANGLEBERGER is the author of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Origami Yoda series, as well as Fake Mustache and Horton Halfpott, both Edgar Award nominees, and the QwikpickPapers series. He is also the author of the transportation picture book McToad Mows Tiny Island. Tom lives with his wife, Cece Bell, in Christiansburg,Virginia.
JEFFREY BROWN is the author of numerous bestselling Star Wars books, including Darth Vader and Son and the middle-grade Jedi Academy series. He grew up in Michigan, where a lot of snow fell every winter. Unlike Neanderthals, he has never learned how to make stone tools. He lives in Chicago with his wife and sons.
PIERCE BROWN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising, Golden Son, and Morning Star. While trying to make it as a writer, Brown worked as a manager of social media at a start-up tech company, toiled as a peon on the Disney lot at ABC Studios, did his time as an NBC page, and gave sleep deprivation a new meaning during his stint as an aide on a U.S. Senate campaign. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is at work on his next novel.
MEG CABOT is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series, with over 25 million copies of her books sold worldwide. Born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, Meg also lived in Grenoble, France, and Carmel, California, before moving to New York City, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Indiana University. She is the author of numerous books for adults and children, but From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess is the first series she’s illustrated. Meg Cabot currently lives in Key West with her husband and cat.
RAE CARSON is the author of the bestselling and award-winning Girl of Fire and Thorns series. Her books tend to contain adventure, magic, and smart girls who make (mostly) smart choices. Originally from California, Rae Carson now lives in Arizona with her husband.
ADAM CHRISTOPHER is a novelist and comic writer. His debut novel, Empire State, was SciFiNow’s Book of the Year and a Financial Times Book of the Year for 2012. In 2013, he was nominated for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best New Talent, with Empire State shortlisted for Best Novel. His other novels include The Age Atomic and The Burning Dark.
ZORAIDA CÓRDOVA is the author of the Vicious Deep trilogy, the On the Verge series, and the Brooklyn Brujas series. She loves black coffee, snark, and still believes in magic. She is a New Yorker at heart and is currently working on her next novel.
DELILAH S. DAWSON is the writer of the Blud series, Servants of the Storm, Hit, Wake of Vultures (as Lila Bowen), and a variety of short stories and comics. She’s also a geek, an artist, an adventure junkie, and a cupcake connoisseur. She writes books for both young adults and adults that range from whimsical to dark to sexy to horrific to adventuresome.
KELLY SUE DECONNICK got her start in the comic industry adapting Japanese and Korean comics into English. Five years and more than ten thousand pages of adaptation later, she transitioned to American comics with 30 Days of Night: Eben and Stella, for Steve Niles and IDW. Work for Image, Boom, Oni, Humanoids, Dark Horse, DC, Vertigo, and Marvel soon followed. Today DeConnick is best known for surprise hits like Carol Danvers’s rebranding as Captain Marvel and the Eisner-nominated mythological western, Pretty Deadly; the latter was co-created with artist Emma Ríos. DeConnick’s most recent venture, the sci-fi kidney-punch called Bitch Planet, co-created with Valentine De Landro, launched to rave reviews in December 2014. DeConnick lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, Matt Fraction, and their two children.
PAUL DINI is a multiple Emmy- and Eisner Award–winning writer and producer who has helped redefine the legends of the DC Universe in such series as The New Batman/Superman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Krypto, and Justice League Unlimited. In doing so, he co-created one of the most popular characters in comics in Harley Quinn, who originated as a character in Batman: The Animated Series. In comics he has authored The World’s Greatest Super-Heroes, illustrated by Alex Ross. Dini has also collaborated with Chip Kidd on Batman Animated for HarperCollins.
IAN DOESCHER, author of the William Shakespeare Star Wars series, has loved Shakespeare since eighth grade and was born forty-five days after Star Wars Episode IV was released. He has a BA in music from Yale University, a master of divinity from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD in ethics from Union Theological Seminary. Ian lives in Portland, Oregon, with his spouse and two sons.
Known to Star Wars fans as the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, actress and entrepreneur ASHLEY ECKSTEIN also founded Her Universe—the groundbreaking fangirl fashion company and lifestyle brand. Ashley has been widely recognized as a businesswoman and fangirl trendsetter. She was recently chosen by Good Housekeeping magazine as one of their 25 Awesome Women for 2016. Her Universe is a proud licensee for Disney/Star Wars and Marvel, BBC/Doctor Who, CBS/Star Trek, Studio Ghibli, as well as a growing roster of properties.
Ashley is a recognized personality in the “geek world” and an in-demand actress and host starring in several TV specials, live shows, events, and videos for Disney, HSN, Comic-Con HQ, and more. In addition to Star Wars’ Ahsoka Tano, Ashley is also the voice of Mia the Bluebird on Disney’s Sofia the First, Dagger on Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man, and the voice of Cheetah on DC Super Hero Girls. Ashley was also heard on the big screen in 2016 as the voice of Yaeko in the English adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s beloved film Only Yesterday alongside fellow Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley and acclaimed actor Dev Patel.
In October 2016, Her Universe was acquired by Hot Topic, Inc., and joined their stable of brands as a standalone subsidiary, e-commerce and wholesale brand. Ashley continues her role as founder and GMM of Her Universe and in overseeing every aspect of the company.
MATT FRACTION writes comic books out in the woods and lives with his wife, the writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, his two children, two dogs, a cat, a bearded dragon, and a yard full of coyotes and stags. Surely there is a metaphor there. He won the first-ever PEN USA Literary Award for Graphic Novel. He, or comics he’s a part of, have won Eisners, Harveys, and Eagles, which are like the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes of comic books and all seem about as likely. He’s a New York Times bestselling donkus of comics like Sex Criminals (winner of the 2014 Will Eisner Award for Best New Series, the 2014 Harvey Award for Best New Series, and named Time magazine’s Best Comic of 2013), Satellite Sam, ODY-C, Hawkeye (winner of the 2014 Will Eisner Award for Best Single Issue), and, oh, lordy, so many more.
ALEXANDER FREED is the author of Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company and Star Wars: The Old Republic: The Lost Suns and has written many short stories, comic books, and videogames. Born near Philadelphia, he endeavors to bring the city’s dour charm with him to his current home of Austin, Texas.
JASON FRY is a writer in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, son, and about a metric ton of Star Wars stuff. He is the author of The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide, The Clone Wars: Ultimate Battles, and The Clone Wars: Official Episode Guide: Season 1, and has written extensively for the Star Wars Insider magazine and Wizards of the Coast.
KIERON GILLEN is a writer based in London. In terms of stories set in a galaxy far, far away he wrote the comics Star Wars: Darth Vader and Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. Elsewhere in comics he has written basically every major Marvel superhero you’ve heard of and a lot that you haven’t, and he’s the co-creator o
f the award-winning The Wicked + The Divine and Phonogram. He is cursed by editors for his seeming inability to learn how to spell “Wookiee” and “Tatooine.” He will be disciplined.
CHRISTIE GOLDEN is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of over fifty novels and more than a dozen short stories in the fields of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Her media tie-in works include launching the Ravenloft line in 1991 with Vampire of the Mists, more than a dozen Star Trek novels, several movie novelizations, the Warcraft novels Rise of the Horde, Lord of the Clans, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, and War Crimes, Assassin’s Creed: Heresy, as well as Star Wars: Dark Disciple and the Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi novels Omen, Allies, and Ascension.
In 2017, she was awarded the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers Faust Award and named a Grandmaster in recognition of over a quarter century of writing.
CLAUDIA GRAY is the author of Star Wars: Bloodline and Defy the Stars, as well as the Firebird series, the Evernight series, and the Spellcaster series. She has worked as a lawyer, a journalist, a disc jockey, and a particularly ineffective waitress. Her lifelong interests include old houses, classic movies, vintage style, and history. She lives in New Orleans.
PABLO HIDALGO is a creative executive within the Lucasfilm Story Group, a resident Star Wars authority who helps ensure consistency across a wide array of Star Wars projects. He has written several DK titles, including most recently the bestselling Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary. He lives with his wife in San Francisco, California.
E. K. JOHNSTON had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she’s learned anything, it’s that things turn out weird sometimes, and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it’s about a pairing she likes. When she’s not on Tumblr, she dreams of travel and Tolkien. Or writes books. It really depends on the weather.