Amanda de Lange (1961–2012) was an indomitable force for good in the world. She possessed a powerful blend of optimism, initiative, fearlessness, and heart as vast as the country she called home. As the founder and executive director of Starfish Children’s Service and Starfish Foster Home in Xi’an, China, she accomplished an incredible and indelible amount of good in her 51 years. Amanda fulfilled dreams—both her own, and those of the children she saved and the families she helped to create and complete.

It was Amanda’s final wish that a book be compiled so her legacy—her Starfish babies—could have a preserved memory of why she did what she did in China. It is impossible to tell her Starfish story without painting a picture of Amanda and the mission that drove her.