Nora stood on the stage. When she saw Isabelle, her stepmom, and a whole bunch of other ladies in very loud clothes and somewhat overdressed, she couldn’t help but wave. And smile.
Then she tested the microphone. She held her big long speech in her hands.
“Friends, this is what I was going to read to you today. But a few minutes ago, I had a new idea. It is such a great idea, it’s almost magical.”
Samantha stood up and started clapping. (Probably because the old speech was so long.)
“This week, talking to all of you, I realized that to be a great president of the class, you need three things. You need to be kind—to others and also to yourself. So that we can understand each other. We need to work together so we can help each other be as happy as possible.” Nora paused and smiled. “I learned that from my stepmom.”
When the crowd stopped clapping, she continued. “I also realized that being a president requires commitment and determination. This is because problems are complicated. They’re going to take lots of creativity and hard work to solve.” She looked at James. “If you vote for James, I’m still going to help solve those problems.”
And then she waved to Isabelle. “And you need friendship. And enthusiasm. And confidence.” She held her hand up as if she were waving a wand. “I call that gusto.”
When her friends were sure she was done speaking, they all clapped. But Nora wasn’t done. “During this campaign, I have learned that James and I have a lot in common—in fact, all of us do. I have learned that we can all be trusted to do a good job. I believe that all people are ready and willing to make our world better.” She took a deep breath. “If you do, too, vote for me. Or James. I have a feeling, whoever wins, we are going to change the school together.”
Then she sat down.
But everyone else stood up.
And then they got in line to vote.
You might think that Nora won that election. That her stepmom wished for her to win.
But sadly, she did not. She lost by five votes.
So it had nothing to do with magic when the students lobbied for a second vote. For copresident. Nora won that by a landslide.
It’s probably been pretty obvious for a while that this story is going to end with happily ever after. It is a story about fairy godmothers. When you think about it, there was no other way to end it.
When Isabelle, Clotilda, Mom, and Grandmomma returned to the fairy godmother world, the Bests acted a tad timid, but when Mom and Grandmomma assured them that the unhappy princess could not be happier, they welcomed her home with open arms. The truth was, Grandmomma was right about a lot of things, but especially that fairy godmothers didn’t hold a grudge. They were happy to welcome Mom into the fairy godmother world again—and Mom was happy to be back.
This meant only one thing: an Extravaganza!
Without further ado, the Bests prepared an amazing feast. They decorated the castle like a victory celebration, with streamers, popcorn garlands, and balloons. They covered the tables with noisemakers and, of course, trays of delicious snacks. To Isabelle’s delight, they told everyone to dress casually. No uncomfortable dresses required!
Even Grandmomma had to admit that fashion didn’t have to hurt. “Sometimes, the best shoes in the world are a pair of fuzzy slippers.”
She also prepared an extra-special surprise for Mom. “I found some old girlgoyles in the basement,” Grandmomma said. “I remember how you used to love talking to those girls up in the tower.”
“Wait a minute,” Isabelle said. “The girlgoyles can talk?”
Grandmomma, Clotilda, and Mom stared at Isabelle. “You didn’t know?” Clotilda chuckled a little bit. “If you give them a little sparkle, they will keep you up all night.”
But Mom looked upset. “You got the ring. Did you not see the blue sparkles? They should have worked like a charm!” She began to apologize again. “Maybe I should stay here with Isabelle. I don’t need to see everyone at once. Instead, I can help her talk to the girlgoyles.”
Grandmomma knew her daughter was getting nervous. The party was a chance for Mom to see everyone, reintroduce herself, and return to the fairy godmother world. “No one is angry anymore. They all want to forgive you. Isabelle can figure out how to talk to the girlgoyles later.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Isabelle said, still shocked that all this time, the girlgoyles could talk. “I did find those sparkles. I even put them in the girlgoyles’ hands. But I must have used them incorrectly. Because they didn’t work.” She added, “You have to go to the Extravaganza. I’ll wait up, if you want to sit in the tower tonight.” (She didn’t expect to go herself, since she had not passed training officially.)
But Grandmomma had one more surprise up her sleeve. She’d learned as much from Isabelle as Isabelle had learned from her. “It seems to me that some rules are meant to be smashed to smithereens,” she said.
Mom nodded. “In other words, we can all talk to the girlgoyles later. You’re coming with us.”
Isabelle stood still so Clotilda could make her a cool outfit, including jeans, a bomber jacket covered in sequins, and a hat just like mom’s silver-and-blue cloche.
Now they were ready. “To the castle we go!” Isabelle said.
When they arrived, everyone wanted to welcome Mom home. Like the Bests, they also wanted to apologize. And they wanted Mom to share what she’d learned.
But Isabelle wanted to introduce her to her friends first.
She grabbed Angelica and Fawn. “Mom, meet the future Bests.”
Her friends bowed their heads. “So sparkly to meet you,” they said at the exact same time.
They also apologized to Isabelle for not believing her story about the old rule book, and for Angelica’s version of the unhappy princess story. “We’re so glad you both are here. We always knew those rumors couldn’t be true.”
Next were the Grands, especially Minerva. “You don’t know how happy I am to see justice served,” Minerva said.
“I never understood why they called you the Worsts,” Mom said.
Next, they danced. They played party games. They talked to every fairy godmother in the room.
When it was time for dinner, Grandmomma took the podium. “Before we eat, I have some announcements to make. The first is the easiest. I would like to congratulate Angelica, Fawn, and our friends the Grands for their exceptional four levels of godmother training. They are officially official. And I couldn’t be more delighted.”
She pointed her wand toward the wall to reveal the HAPPILY EVER AFTER: THE LAST LINE OF EVERY GREAT STORY plaque.
“You fixed it!” Isabelle said. Everyone clapped politely. (They knew there was more. Grandmomma was only getting started.) “Did it take strong sparkles to fix?”
“No sparkles at all,” Grandmomma said, frowning just a tad. (Remember: Fairy godmothers did not believe in using sparkles for mundane projects.) “All I needed was a little bit of glue.”
When everyone was done applauding the new sign, Grandmomma had one more godmother to thank. “I also want to honor my granddaughter Isabelle. All by herself, she took on a big challenge. She acted as bravely and kindly as any godmother could.”
At this point, Minerva stood up. She had a sign of her own. So did Angelica, Fawn, Irene, and MaryEllen. Their signs all said the same thing: MAKE ISABELLE OFFICIAL.
“She made that gnarly tree!” Angelica said.
“She helped end the strike!” Fawn said.
“And she made her princess happy without ever really reading one ounce of fine print!” Minerva said.
“What do you say, Isabelle?” Grandmomma winked at her. “Are you ready to join your class? Do you believe in yourself? Do you trust yourself to be a great fairy godmother?” She held up the Number One pin (hopefully still with the secret sparkles inside). “Do you want this back? Or not?”
Isabelle walked slowly to the podium.
She walked slowly because she had a lot to consider.
&
nbsp; Did she trust herself?
A lot of people were counting on her.
And there was also that wish.
Isabelle took the pin. She smiled at Minerva, Angelica, Fawn, Irene, MaryEllen, Zahara, and most of all, Mom and Clotilda.
“A wish is more than a pact between a godmother and a princess. A wish is a promise. A wish is hope. A wish is what we do to make the world better.” She took a deep breath. “Earlier today, Nora’s stepmom made the best wish ever—for me to be Nora’s fairy godmother and lifelong friend.” She hugged her Grandmomma. “So yes, I want to be official. I believe I can make Nora happy. But I also know that a girl like Nora is going to have a lot of complicated wishes. And I still have a lot to learn. So can official fairy godmothers still go back to training? And for pity’s sake, can we please get rid of Rule Three C?”
The crowd went crazy. (The truth was that no one liked Three C.)
Grandmomma could barely speak. “Yes, let’s get rid of Rule Three C. Let’s never speak of it again!”
Now the godmothers wanted to sparkle on, but Grandmomma had one more announcement to make. “Mothers, I have one final thing to say. I am stepping down. I will no longer be the president of the Fairy Godmother Alliance. I will no longer run training. And I do not want to ever edit another book!”
Everyone laughed. This was a job that very few godmothers wanted to do.
“I am officially handing in my wand. And my sparkles. I welcome any of you to the castle. But for me, there will be no more magic. I want to enjoy time with my family.”
Luciana joined Grandmomma at the podium. “You can imagine that I have some work to do. Following in Elizabeth Marie’s footsteps is virtually impossible.
“So this is what we’re going to do. I am stepping down from active service. From now on, I will run training.”
Luciana continued. “Kaminari has offered to take over the presidency. She has also agreed to edit the book with the help of Victoria, who has graciously offered to share her new knowledge of the regular world and princesses of all sorts. This means that we have a new top three. Raine is Number One, Clotilda is Number Two, and Minerva is Number Three.”
Minerva looked almost as surprised as everyone else in the room. “I am?”
Grandmomma said, “You are.” She shook the ancient godmother’s hand. “I think it will be a good thing for the Bests to include someone with so much experience.”
Minerva looked as if she was about to faint. “As long as no one starts calling me and my pals ‘The Olds’!”
Everyone laughed. They cheered for Raine, Clotilda, and Minerva. Isabelle told Luciana she’d see her soon. And then she did what she always did.
She hurried back to her friends, the girlgoyles, this time for a real-live, out-loud chat.
Finally!
Isabelle climbed to the top of the tower and sat between the girlgoyles. She pulled two perfect sparkles out of her Number One pin.
She gave one to each girlgoyle—right between the claws.
For the first time ever, she didn’t mind waiting.
But (thank goodness) these sparkles were fairly fresh. They didn’t take long to work.
“Isabelle!” Francoise said.
Bernadette gave Isabelle a stony hug. “We’ve been waiting a long time to talk to you.”
Isabelle laughed. “I didn’t know.”
“We kept waiting for you to figure it out,” Francoise said. “There were so many things you could have avoided if you had just talked to us.”
This was technically true. But some lessons are best learned on their own.
Especially when they involve fine print. Or choices. Or footnotes. Or magic.
Isabelle told them about Nora and Samantha and how she found Mom. (But they already knew. All this time, they couldn’t speak, but they could hear.)
And they told her about her mom as a girl. “She used to talk to us all the time,” Bernadette said. Francoise added, “And we used to help her study.”
This was news to Isabelle. “Could you do that for me? Maybe help me read the fine print?”
“Absolutely,” Francoise said.
Bernadette snapped her fingers and whipped out a magnifying glass. “What else are we here for?”
Now Isabelle couldn’t help it. She stood up and twirled. She hugged the girlgoyles. And she almost cried.
Isabelle was sure she was going to be a great fairy godmother—maybe even as great as her sister (but probably not). In fact, she couldn’t wait until tomorrow so she could go check in with Nora without having to reintroduce herself. She knew Nora was going to need some time to find the right wish—the perfect wish—the one that would help her change the world (and be happily ever after).
In the meantime, she knew they were going to have all kinds of adventures together.
That was because they were both
a. kind, determined, and full of gusto.
b. focused on making a better world. (And having a blast!)
c. ready for anything!
In the end (and this is that), this was what Isabelle had always wanted. To be a great fairy godmother. To the best princess ever.
In other words: happily ever after.
All of the above.
The End
Dear Readers,
At the end of each of the previous Wish List books, I have had the privilege to thank my family and friends, as well as my agent, Sarah Davies, and the great people at Scholastic for helping me find my story. There is no way these books could have been written without their patience, support, and enthusiasm.
As Henri Matisse said, “Creativity takes courage.” He was not joking!
Today, I want to thank you!
Thank you for your enthusiasm and questions and letters! They made writing these books a whole lot easier—and way sparklier! A book really isn’t real or whole until it has been picked up and enjoyed, cover to cover. Thank you for sticking with Isabelle and Nora. Thank you for laughing at my jokes, for inviting me to your classrooms, for talking about the fairy godmother world (and the regular one, too). Thank you for sharing the sparkle!
When I was young, I was a lot like Isabelle. (Even now, I have a hard time reading the fine print!) I didn’t like rules. But now I have to say: I sort of love them! They helped me write these books!
If you are interested in writing, here is my best advice: Get started! Keep a notebook. Draw. Explore. Take your time. Don’t worry about being perfect. Instead, think big! Be bold! Take chances. Make lots of mistakes. To create these books, I had to write lots of words that were not good at all. I actually deleted two complete drafts! But thanks to family, friends, and my amazing editor, Anna Bloom, I found the stories. The process worked! Magic happened!
In book one, Isabelle needed kindness, determination, and gusto to become a great fairy godmother. The more I thought about these things, the more I realized how essential they are—no matter what we want to do.
We need to be kind—to others and ourselves. Especially when we are trying to do something big.
We need determination—to practice a lot—if we want to meet our goals.
And we need to have a whole lot of gusto and lots of exclamation points! When we care deeply about our stories, determination isn’t so hard. Kindness comes easy. We smile more. We forgive ourselves. We enjoy the process! And when we can do all that, we can do anything! Happily ever after isn’t just a line at the end of the story. It’s real!
Sparkle on, readers.
Thank you so much for reading Isabelle’s story.
Sarah Aronson has always believed in magic—especially when it comes to writing. Her favorite things (in no particular order) include all kinds of snacks (especially chocolate), sparkly accessories, biking along Lake Michigan, and reading all kinds of stories—just not the fine print!
Sarah holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives with her family in Evanston, Illinois.
Find ou
t more at www.saraharonson.com.
Author photo by Lynn Bohannon
Isabelle’s sparkle gets its start in The Wish List #1: The Worst Fairy Godmother Ever!
Dear Trainee, Please read and review all the rules before the first day of training. We appreciate your cooperation. —The Bests
Isabelle didn’t have to be told she’d be better off studying.
She knew she wasn’t ready for the first day of Fairy Godmother Training: Level One—not by a long shot. She didn’t need her older sister, Clotilda, to tell her that.
But that didn’t stop Clotilda. All day long, she asked things like: Why aren’t you studying? Can I give you a quiz? You didn’t fall asleep on your book again, did you?
This was the problem with older, smarter sisters who were perfect at everything. Clotilda wasn’t just annoying. She was also right.
“Why can’t you take this seriously?” she asked Isabelle. And then the clincher: “You don’t want to embarrass Grandmomma, do you?”
Grandmomma (with the emphasis on grand) was the current president of the Fairy Godmother Alliance, one of the authors of The Official Rule Book for Fairy Godmothers, 11th Edition, and the sisters’ grandmother.
More important, Grandmomma ran the official fairy godmother training program and helped select practice princesses for every new trainee. She was a godmother with very high standards and a very short temper. Trainees who couldn’t cut it were banished. Probably to the dreaded Fairy Godmother Home for Normal Girls.
Isabelle did not want to go there.
At the Fairy Godmother Home for Normal Girls, there were no princesses. There were no wands. There were definitely no sparkles. Instead, normal girls learned to do one of the non-magical jobs of the fairy godmother world. “It’s an honest life,” Clotilda had told Isabelle at least a hundred times. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, but let’s be honest, being a fairy godmother is so much better.”
So, no, Isabelle didn’t want to embarrass (or otherwise irritate) Grandmomma. But she didn’t want to study, either. The problem with studying was that there was always something better to do.
Survival of the Sparkliest! Page 8