#1 New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Gregory Maguire shares the eagerly awaited origin story of Galinda, the pink-clad, effervescent, and popular favorite character in this sister volume to Elphie . Who was Glinda the Good Witch before she floated down in her bubble to greet Dorothy? Who was Glinda before she became Elphaba Thropp’s magnetic and popular roommate at Shiz University? Well, before then, she was Galinda. With a “ga.” The youngest of four children in a high-born family down on their luck, Galinda is both pampered and ignored. Her natural grace promises to elevate her in the district dance competitions—but these efforts distract her from seeing the growing resentments of local merchants who disapprove of her family’s business strategies. Enmired in the self-satisfactions and unnamed timidities of childhood, Galinda finds in herself neither canniness nor the need to cultivate it. However, as her father deftly pivots around the snares and nets laid for him by his competitors, Galinda begins to dance toward a life that might lift her above her proud, if hardscrabble, childhood. Galinda reveals the girl behind the bubbly, shallow cliché—offering fans of Wicked their first richer glimpse into the life of a beloved and iconic character. Gregory Maguire is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Years, a series that includes Wicked ―the beloved classic that is the basis for the blockbuster Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name and the major motion pictures― Son of a Witch , A Lion Among Men , and Out of Oz . His series Another Day continues the story of Oz with The Brides of Maracoor , The Oracle of Maracoor , and The Witch of Maracoor , and his other novels include A Wild Winter Swan , Hiddensee , After Alice , Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister , Lost , and Mirror Mirror . Some of his novels for children include Cress Watercress , Leaping Beauty , and Egg & Spoon , winner of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor. He lives in New England and France.