LIBBY AND THE CLASS ELECTION

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.