Gr 3–8-Roan Novachez has been personally invited by Yoda to attend Jedi Academy, but he’s afraid that he’ll flunk out and have to attend the Agriculture Academy on Tatooine next year. The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda by Tom AnglebergerĪuthor’s Website: and (this one includes his non- Star Wars books).

Story Time Ideas: This would be a book best read on one’s own. The simple artwork will encourage young artists to keep at it and I think this book would be particularly interesting to boys.īibliotherpeutic Uses (if applicable): none officially, though it might be a good graduation present for some who just finished elementary school or a consolation present to someone who didn’t get into the school of their choice. What makes this book special? Not too many books manage to capture the middle school experience so well. Note: some more hardcore Star Wars fans may be irked by some of the breaks with canon, but most will like the application of the Star Wars universe to a “dealing with middle school” story. Young readers (and older ones who remember middle school) will be able to relate to Roan’s fears and will laugh at the many humorous scenes. That lost, everyone-knows-what’s-going-on feeling is simply and eloquently described through Roan’s journal entries and panel-style comics. He finds a niche for himself drawing comics for the school newspaper and eventually makes some friends, learns to wield a light saber and even talks to a girl.Įvaluation: This book captures the transition into middle school (or any new school, really) perfectly. He can’t use the Force (yet…) and he isn’t sure who’s a “nice kid” and who’s a bully (the reader, however, can tell by the clothing classic Jedi or Sith attire) and meanwhile he has to deal with classes. He’s one of the only new kids (most have been there since they were babies) and now he has to catch up and fit in. He’s suspicious, as he’s never heard of it, but decides to go anyway (his backup school is Tatooine Agricultural Academy, and he hates dirt). But then he gets a letter from The Jedi Academy, telling him they would like him as a student. All his life, Roan has dreamed of being a pilot, and now, it seems, with one un-acceptance letter, his dreams are gone. It’s where all of his friends are going, where his brother will be graduating from soon, and where his dad went.

Summary: When he is denied entry into his dream school, Pilot Academy Middle School, Roan Novachavez is devastated.

There, he must navigate making new friends, mean teachers, and girls. Genre and Theme: At its core, this is a book about the terrors of middle school, cleverly wrapped in a scienc-fiction comic book.Īnnotation: Told through journal entries and paneled comics, this is the story of Roan Novachavez who, after getting denied entry into Pilot’s School, he is accepted into The Jedi Academy. Reading and Interest Level: Grades three through seven

Star wars jedi academy jeffrey brown