Review: A Double Helping of the Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger

The Secret of the Fortune Wookie by Tom Angleberger (Sep. 2012, Amulet Books, ISBN: 1419705172) &
The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett by Tom Angleberger (Sep. 2013, Amulet Books, ISBN: 1419710451)

Review: After finishing a very downbeat Scandinavian crime novel I decided I needed something light and funny to read and fortunately I had The Secret of the Fortune Wookie and The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett, books three and four in the Origami Yoda series in my library book tbr.

As with the previous two, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back they take the form of case files ie lots of short chapters from different pupils at McQuarrie Middle School collated by Tommy and annotated/doodled on by Harvey and Kellen.

With the absence of Dwight and his Origami Yoda it's Sara's turn to dispense Jedi wisdom via her Fortune Wookie and the case file is, is the Wookie as good as Yoda? Also what is happening with Dwight? He's at a new school and has had a personality transplant to a “normal” person but is he happy? And will he come back to McQuarrie after he's served his suspension?

In Jabba, rather than one finger puppet, many required are they, as the gang, form the origami rebel alliance to bring down the evil empire of FunTime, a new and tedious learning programme brought in to improve their test scores which has replaced all their non-academic modules such as drama and robot making. Each of the contributors to the case file has their own origami figure puppet – Tommy has Foldy-Wan Kenobi – and all must recruit more of their fellow pupils to the cause.

I really enjoyed these two books, they make me smile. I now feel I'm getting to know the individuals – Sara, Tommy, Kellen, Harvey, Dwight and more who contribute to the case files. I love the Star Wars theme and there are lots of clever doodles in the margin. The gang have to face a serious problem in Jabba and it's not resolved yet; I'll have to wait until next year's Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue to find out if they succeed.

Also available is Art2-D2's Guide to Folding and Doodling which shows you how to make many of the origami finger puppets and doodles and much more. It also comes with some coloured sheets of paper in it.

Review: Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger

Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger (Sep. 2011, Amulet Books, ISBN: 1419701274)

Review: Darth Paper Strikes Back is the middle book of the (first?) trilogy by George Lucas Tom Angleberger and we return to McQuarrie Middle School and most of the characters featured in The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Tommy, the main narrator, is still doubting whether his friend Dwight's finger puppet of Yoda is actually channelling 'The Force' of whether it is Dwight's wisdom that he and his friends are making good use of. Another pupil, Harvey, has a competing finger puppet Darth Paper which is trying to lead people over to the dark side.

When 'Yoda' goes too far however, advising a fellow student that she is doomed, a complaint is made to the Principal and Dwight is suspended and threatened with reform school. Origami Yoda makes a plea to Tommy to make a casebook to save Dwight.

Like the previous book, Darth Paper Strikes Back is mostly a collection of anecdotes from pupils on how Dwight/Yoda helped them out in tricky situations which include this time: coping with an unclean student, an annoying child at the skate park and raising funds for the school. These stories are bookended by Tommy's narrative.

I enjoyed Darth Paper Strikes Back very much. I love all the Star Wars references made by the characters and the doodles/drawings in the “casebook”. The individual stories are interesting and it's all very wholesome and heart-warming, culminating in an unexpected ending. The third part of the trilogy, The Secret of The Fortune Wookiee, is out now and Art2-D2's Guide to Folding and Doodling is out this month (April 2013).

[An attempt to make a Darth Paper to go with my Yoda is on my to-do list.]

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Sequel to Origami Yoda

Last year I reviewed Tom Angleberger's The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and I then ran a library summer activity in making an origami yoda so I was pleased to read in Publishers Weekly that a sequel is planned:

In Darth Paper Strikes Back, a sequel due from Amulet next summer, another boy creates his own origami puppet based on a different, and decidedly darker, Star Wars character.

Named a best book of 2010 by the Boston Globe and included on the New York Public Library’s list of best children’s books of 2010, Origami Yoda has more than 550,000 copies in print (including trade and book-club and school book-fair editions) since its publication last March, and has earned the author an enthusiastic—and creative—base of fans. In fact, when Angleberger—an ardent Star Wars fan since seeing the original film in 1977—conducted a poll on his Web site to determine which Star Wars character readers most wanted to see featured in the sequel, more than 10,000 votes were cast. In truth, the author didn’t really need help selecting his next origami hero.

While promoting Origami Yoda, Angleberger heard many requests for a sequel. “It became clear to me that these kids wanted Darth Vader in the next book,” he says. “I actually had the plot of the second book pretty well in hand even before the first book came out, but something was missing—I needed the right title. And suddenly Darth Paper popped into my head—that was a great moment.”

Review: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger (Mar 2010, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. , ISBN: 0810984253)

First Line:
The big question: Is Origami Yoda real?

Review: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is a series of short chapters narrated by class-mates of sixth-grader Tommy which he has gathered together to decide if Origami Yoda, a paper finger-puppet on the finger of 'loser' Dwight, is using the Force to answer questions posed by Tommy's class-mates, or whether Dwight is supplying the advice himself.

Adding a complication is that Origami Yoda's advice is usually wise but sometimes contradicts what Dwight appears to think.

Tommy's friends Harvey and Kellen add their thoughts and drawings to Tommy's casebook along the way.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is a charming book, which made me laugh out loud at times. The Star Wars references and drawings are very appealing, as is the main character, Tommy. The different stories do come together at the end and the reader can make their own mind up about Yoda's powers. This is a beautifully designed book which covers some life messages about tolerance and honesty in a gentle way. It reminded me a little of the 1980s He-Man cartoon series in which each episode ended with a moral message. The book also shows you how to make a simple Yoda of your own (which I haven't tried yet!). (The instructions are also on the Origami Yoda website.)