The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett: An Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger
| The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett: An Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: Mid-series this volume may be, and hampered by a most unattractive margin doodle quirk, but this book of gentle rebellion at school can be really quite good fun. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 160 | Date: September 2013 |
| Publisher: Abrams | |
| ISBN: 9781419710452 | |
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What is out there that can make a wimpy kid less, er, wimpy? Why, a paper finger puppet of the Star Wars universe's Yoda character, that's what. One kid in school has taken the Origami Yoda persona on through several other books and adventures, and he's going to be useful here, as he, our chief narrator Tommy and all their friends despair at changes in the school. In a rash move, the principal has banned all the semi-educational but fun classes, like music, drama and, er, Lego Robot Club, and replaced them with horrendously boring and patronising, shrill TV programmes and rote filling-in of worksheets, just so collectively the school's exam marks bounce back from a one-year dip. But how can one little paper Yoda inspire such a large scale retraction, and get the changes reversed?
It has to be said that this book, and I guess the others in the series, is amongst the ugliest ones I've read in years. I dropped a clue in the first sentence above – the bit about the wimpy kids – but in this volume the illustrations and changes of font size for emphasis, etc, have been relegated to the margins, as scribble, ascribing dialogue speech balloons and more has appeared across the edges of most of the pages. The doodly and interfering look to the page does not, however, detract from the reading, and only some of the switches across a wide range of narrators, and some scenes being laid out like a drama script, can potentially get in the way of quick comprehension.
And there's quite a lot to comprehend. The font size varies here too, but you regularly get more to read than in a real Wimpy Kid book, meaning this series probably serves as a great next step. The changing narrators allow for stand-alone comic scenes to feature, while the focus is always here on Tommy et al and their affection for Star Wars and its characters, even in origami form. Tom Angleberger has a lot of affection for the series as well, it is clear, and he knows all the characters, both minor and major, and quotes, to pepper his (officially approved) book with.
At the same time you don't really need to be a huge Star Wars fan to appreciate the book. It seems to have a real, right-on approach to putting fun into education that could have been preachy – I certainly found that message encroaching on things now and again – but on the whole the moral is of group activity, cooperation, and optimism. As I say, there are many characters here, and while their voices may not be distinct enough at times, the story is one of mass action, whether it be the cast of the school play continuing after the director is no longer present, or the main plot of the attempt at removing the video nasties from the head of class.
All in all, those decent sensibilities, and the amusing (if never completely funny) approach, mean I can get over the unsightly design. I certainly had some quibbles about this book upon first flicking through it, and you may well have similar doubts that the Star Wars hook was being used too lightly, frivolously or cheaply. I'd like to allay those doubts, and suggest that this series is one to strongly consider. I found this episode rather good fun. I have too many morals to let it pass without mentioning that it ends on a cliff-hanger, but with potential amusement from the rest of the series, I think I can still recommend it.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
We have previously enjoyed Darth Paper Strikes Back, which might lack the Empire/Bad Education metaphor of this title, but is similarly droll fun.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett: An Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett: An Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger at Amazon.com.
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