Blue Stars Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem is about two cousins, Riley and Maya, who are radically different, but must stop the evil Vice Principal Balderdash (whose name rhymes with Baldera$$ and matches his personality) from taking away all the fun and only have Detention!
Of course, the cousins have a rocky start, but with gadgets and a distraction that would make James Bond jealous, they will best their archnemesis! The two girls are different not just because of personalities (Riley is bubbly, artistic, likes fashion and popularity, has a large extended family and has lived her life in Oklahoma; whereas Maya is quiet, gadget happy and from a smaller, military family), but because of their backgrounds. One has a native background and the other is a service family, moving around with her parents and recently is from Okinawa, Japan. Their grandmother is their connection, as she seems to have had two families (there is a family tree at the start, but little is explained) but the two families have not spent a lot of time together. In fact the girls were three the last time they saw each other.But despite this, the situation is worked out easily enough.
And that is the name of the game, things work out easy. There is nothing “bad” about what is happening. No monsters, earthquakes, missing puppies, not even a dropped ice cream. Even the couple fights they have are tame. Kekla Magoon, Cynthia Leitch Smith and Molly Murakami made a story with a simple plot, simple (but colorful) art, for the third to young sixth graders, that is “family friendly.” If you want an edge, this isn’t it. If you want a nice story with a bit of humor, a little action and some friendship growing, this is it. 