It’s enough better than the first to give some hope for the next 10 books.
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)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7766-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Disney Press
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another uproarious romp that explores what it is to be good as well as do good.
The foursome of reformed villains returns with a new mission and new team member in a continued effort to repair their reputations in Blabey's (The Bad Guys, 2017) rollicking sequel.
This second installment opens with our would-be heroes, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha, fresh from their bold liberation of the local pound, finding that the media is not spinning in their favor. Accused of terrorizing rather than rescuing, the group (at least Mr. Wolf) refuses to admit defeat—"We're the GOOD GUYS here!"—and begins planning a new mission to free innocent chickens from their deplorable confinement in the Sunnyside Chicken Farm. But if the team can't work together—something all the more difficult with the team a little panicked by the addition of Legs (a friendly, tech-genius tarantula) and one of the group suspiciously excited to greet the chickens—a rescue mission may be all but impossible. Despite some language devaluing of mental diversity (“freak out,” “loco,” etc.) that may turn some readers off, Blabey once again deploys moral ambiguity to overall success, challenging fear as a justification for prejudice and mistakes as reasons to give up. The narrative has lost no comic momentum from first to second book, juxtaposing classic riffs on Mission Impossible and new visual gags unique to these delightfully wry characters.
Another uproarious romp that explores what it is to be good as well as do good. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91241-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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