Starr Valentine, the most popular cheerleader at Middleton High, has led a charmed life. But the day she is chosen as the youngest member ever of homecoming court, is also the day her parents reveal a secret: They are monarchs in exile from a mysterious planet called Vega, and it's time for all of them to return home. It's a disaster, and things get even worse when they arrive on their new world. Starr has always been the best-looking girl in the room, but everyone is ignoring her and fawning over her frumpy older sister, Astra. Starr soon figures out the awful truth. The standard of beauty on Vega is different, and she isn't pretty anymore. Also, everybody treats her like she's annoying and shallow, including an irritatingly handsome young duke named Julian. Can Starr find a way to get noticed again, or is this once beautiful swan doomed to remain an ugly duckling forever?