"Before There Were Stars" is a tale of a sorcerer scorned, who seeks revenge by conjuring an orange dragon. It attacks the sorcerer's love and her husband leaving two girls in the care of their grandparents. The girls, the neighbors' twin boys, and their friends live under the rule of the terrible dragon. They cannot defeat the creature, and they cannot escape from their island home. When the children come face to face with the sorcerer, a bargain is made.