BLUE STARS is a new graphic series featuring two enduring characters.
Pictured on the left is Maya Dawn who has moved to Urbanapolis to live with Grandma while her parents are on active duty in Japan. Joining Maya is Riley Halfmoon. She and her parents came from Oklahoma and will also live with Grandma as Dad is going to nursing school and Mom has a new job.
Introverted Maya is into science and inventions while outgoing Riley loves gymnastics. Sharing a room does not go well at first but soon the girls become friends. They embark on a plan to run for sixth-grade class president and uncover the misdeeds of vice principal Balderdash.
The story moves along at an enjoyable pace and will appeal to anyone into great storytelling in a graphic format. BLUE STARS is a winner,
BOOK BIRTHDAY: March 5, 2024 PAGE COUNT: 176
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FIVE MORE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT… BLUE STARS: THE VICE PRINCIPAL PROBLEM
- The artwork is superb showing the emotions in each scene, especially through each character’s eyes.
- Having the vice-principal be such a horrid person was a bit far fetched, but the idea of students against administration is just the type of conflict young readers enjoy.
- A wonderful diverse cast of characters thanks to the authors own diversity.
- The author’s note was the perfect way to bring a close to this first story in the series. It’s a motivational read urging students to be active voices in their schools.
- The theme that you don’t have to have the same interests to be best companions. Each person’s strengths can help both succeed.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Kekla Magoon is the author of many novels and nonfiction books for young readers, including The Season of Styx Malone, The Rock and the River, How It Went Down, and Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People.
She has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the John Steptoe New Talent Award, three Coretta Scott King Honors, the Walter Award Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and been a finalist for the National Book Award.
Kekla conducts school and library visits nationwide and serves on the Writers’ Council for the National Writing Project. Kekla holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she now serves on faculty. Visit her online at keklamagoon.com.
Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) is a NYTimes bestseller, 2024 Southern Mississippi Medallion Winner, and 2021 NSK Neustadt Laureate. Her titles include HEARTS UNBROKEN, which won an American Indian Youth Literature Award, the anthology ANCESTOR APPROVED, an Indigenous PETER PAN retelling titled SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA, HARVEST HOUSE, which is one of five Bram Stoker Award® Nominees for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel, and—the BLUE STARS series, also by Kekla Magoon and Molly Murakami. Cynthia looks forward to ON A WING AND A TEAR for middle graders. She is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint of HarperChildren’s. (Author Website)
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Molly Murakami (she/her) is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She likes to make work about family, shared histories, and identity.
Molly has worked with Bleacher Report, Candlewick Press, Densho, First Second, IDW, and others. She enjoys reading all kinds of books, helicopter-parenting her house plants, and looking up the ends of movies on Wikipedia.
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COMMENTS ARE WELCOME BELOW!
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Always in the Middle... 
I often find that the evil principals are not dealing as much in the realm of reality as I would like, not that children would know. Budgeting decisions are never made by individual schools in our district.
A vice-principal problem sounds a serious one! 🙂 Sounds a fun story, thanks for sharing!
Sounds like this could be a fun read, I’ve enjoyed both of these authors prior books.
This book sounds like a winner!
Cool!
I had a vice-prinicpal once who was a truly horrid person. Maybe I should write a book with her as the antagonist. This sounds like a fun book. I’m not a big fan of graphic novels, but I might give this one a try. Thanks for the the review.