Libby and the Class Election

July 15, 2015
Immediately following (and published simultaneously with) Sage and the Journey to Wishworld (2015), people-pleasing Star Darling Libby travels to the Wishworld to grant a wish during student-council elections. After 12 character profiles, an introduction explaining wish mechanics, and a prologue summarizing the series' opener, Star Darling Libby and her roommate (Star Darling Gemma) receive mysterious flowers that smell different to each person and have minor roommate conflicts. Other Star Darlings are also having minor roommate troubles, but that storyline and the mysterious-flower one (and yet another subplot, about forming a rock band) are left mostly unresolved when Libby is selected for the next mission. She travels to the Wishworld, where two best friends are running against each other to be president of the student council. Libby quickly identifies one as the wisher and assumes her wish is to win the election. Teaming up with Ava's very serious campaign manager, Libby helps with the election and also attempts to fulfill every passing wish that Ava says aloud. The humor is far stronger on Wishworld than at Starling Academy. In addition to fish-out-of-water jokes, there are numerous silly campaign-slogan puns and, in the funniest moment, a faked phone call that Libby inflicts on a very confused stranger. This book closely follows the formula of the first's resolution but then ends on quite the cliffhanger. It's enough better than the first to give some hope for the next 10 books. (Fantasy. 7-11)

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October 1, 2015

Gr 3-6-Any girl in Starland would be excited to go to Starling Academy and learn how to grant wishes; this series follows 12 very special students known as the Star Darlings, as they become part of an elite wish-granting group and prepare for their top-secret missions to find and grant wishes on Wishworld (also known as Earth). The Star Darlings learn all about the peculiarities of Wishworld and how the Wishers lives are very different from the magical and star-gazing world of Starland. They take classes on how to grant wishes made on shooting stars and birthday candles all as a way to help harness the positive energy of wishes, which works as a natural resource to help light and illuminate Starland. The Star Darlings will each be sent to Wishworld to find the wisher and figure out how to grant their wish-not an easy task when traveling to a new and very different world. Each story follows one of the Darlings on their travels as they discover how challenging life on a new planet can be and the importance of friendship and teamwork. VERDICT These novels are filled with magical, descriptive language and imagery; a fun combination for magical fantasy lovers-though the abundance of ultra-pink and sparkly design motifs may limit the audience.-Christina Pesiri, Michael F. Stokes Elementary School Library, Island Trees-Levittown, NY

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