This is Your Brain on Books: Angleberger

Nov 23, 2012

Darth Paper Strikes Back

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (in the USA it was yesterday). If you are Black Friday shopping today (eek!) be safe and don't be a jerk! Shopping online is much more enjoyable and less bloody. Plus you can be around your family and eat leftovers while you shop. Anyways, review time.

Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger
Published: 8-23-11 by Amulet Books

NOT SUCH A LONG TIME AGO, IN A MIDDLE SCHOOL NOT SO FAR, FAR AWAY...

Something amazing happened. A weird kid named Dwight made an origami finger puppet of Yoda. (That wasn't the amazing thing--just typical Dwight weirdness.) the amazing thing was that Origami Yoda gave great advice. He could predict the date of a pop quiz, tell a guy if a girl likes him or not, and keep kids from embarrassing themselves in a dozen different ways. Most of the sixth graders were convinced he was using the Force.

But now, a year later, it's a dark time at McQuarrie Middle School. Dwight has been suspended and may be expelled, which means no more Origami Yoda. Even worse, Darth Paper, a puppet created by Dwight's nemesis, Harvey, has taken Yoda's place. He spews insults and evil and just may be responsible for getting Dwight kicked out in the first place. Now the kids of McQuarrie are trying to build a case to save Dwight. This is their case file.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda was cute and funny (see review here), and I am very excited that it is now part of a series! There is a more defined plot in this book, and also more origami, which makes Star Wars nerds like me very happy. Well, it makes me happy - I'm just assuming other people are happy about it.

Here are my Yoda and Darth Vader origamis! (Is that the plural of origami?)

plot - Dwight / Origami Yoda's advice is mistaken for a threat and he gets suspended, so Tommy and his friends make another case file to get the school board to let Dwight come back to school. And despite the fact that there are more things going on in this book, it's still filled with random Yoda awesomeness!
Darth Paper - While Harvey's kind of mean and is definitely mean to Dwight, Darth Paper is entertaining. Well, actually, Darth Paper is mean because he's just Harvey, but the fact that Darth Paper exists is entertaining to me. I found the arguments between Darth and Yoda very funny.
stories - Again, Origami Yoda finds unique ways to solve problems in seventh grade daily life. There are exploding pizza bagels and silly school rules, and it's all pretty cool.

another school? - What happens if Dwight goes to a different school than Tommy and everyone else? They are in desperate need of Jedi knowledge! What happens in the 3rd book? Where does the wookiee come from? (Yes, that is how you spell wookiee)

So you've already heard about how Dwight got sent home after the whole "Prepare to meet your Doom" thing. Well, here's what happened right after it: DOOM! It was like the minute Dwight and Yoda were gone, everything they had helped us achieve did a nosedive into the sarlacc pit. - Tommy pg. 97
"If you strike down Dwight, he will grow more powerful than you can possibly imagine!" said Origami Yoda. - pg. 130

4 robots

The Force is strong with this one

Acquired: swapped for on swap.com

Oct 23, 2012

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Published: 3-1-2010 by Amulet Books

Meet Dwight, a sixth-grade oddball. Dwight does a lot of weird things, like wearing the same T-shirt for a month or telling people to call him "Captain Dwight." This is embarrassing, particularly for Tommy, who sits with him at lunch every day.

But Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes an origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that's when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions.

Tommy wants to know how Origami Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. Is Yoda tapping into the Force? It's crucial that Tommy figure out the mystery before he takes Yoda's advice about something VERY IMPORTANT that has to do with a girl.

This is Tommy's case file of his investigation into "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda."

This is a middle-grade book. I don't usually read or review middle-grade books, but I couldn't resist the combination of Star Wars and origami. Just look at that adorable Yoda! I'm making an exception for this series of books because I really enjoyed this one.

references to Star Wars - Obviously, this book is based on the awesomeness that is Star Wars. There are a ton of really clever and subtle Star Wars references throughout this book that made me laugh because they were so appropriate for the situation.
Dwight + Yoda - Dwight is the weird kid, the one nobody understands. We only get to know him through the other kids' stories, and they only really talk to him when they want Yoda's advice. I think this is pretty accurate 6th grade behavior. Dwight is hilarious!
POV's - All of the kids' stories were written in a fresh voice. Each one had a clear personality and they were easy to tell apart. It's been a long time since I was in 6th grade, but I was impressed with how realistic and universal the situations in the book are.

Then he goes over to the next table, and the next, and pretty soon he has told everybody in the library to learn the Twist. Then he left the library, apparently to spread Yoda's "wisdom" to the rest of the school. - pg. 35 Sarah
As far as I can see, all this story proves is that Dwight is crazy as a bald gorilla. I was there when he was doing that covering-his-mouth thing, and it was totally embarrassing. Why does he have to sit at our table? Why wouldn't they let me kick him out? - pg. 73-74 Harvey