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DARTH PAPER STRIKES BACK by Tom Angleberger Kirkus Star

DARTH PAPER STRIKES BACK

From the Origami Yoda series, volume 2

by Tom Angleberger illustrated by Tom Angleberger

Pub Date: Aug. 23rd, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0027-9
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Can tiny paper guru Origami Yoda save nerdy Dwight (from whose finger Yoda pontificates) from Principal Rabbski’s unfounded suspension (and worse)?

Last year, the sixth graders of McQuarrie Middle School compiled a case file to decide whether Origami Yoda was real or just Dwight wiggling his paper-clad finger and talking in a Yoda voice; he seemed to be the real deal and helped a lot of students out. Unfortunately, on the first day of seventh grade, ever-skeptical Harvey appears with an origami Darth Vader on his finger bent on dispensing the gospel of the Dark Side…well, actually he is still trying to get everyone to admit Origami Yoda’s a total scam. Is Darth Paper more powerful than Origami Yoda? When Jen asks Origami Yoda for advice about cheerleading tryouts and he says, “Zero Hour comes. Prepare to meet your doom!”, Principal Rabbski suspends Dwight for threatening behavior and recommends he be sent to CREF, the Correctional and Remedial Education Facility. Tommy plans to take this new case file, complete with negative comments from Harvey and illustrations from Kellen, to the school board to save his friend. Angleberger’s just-as-funny follow-up to The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (2010) delves deeper into the mystery of the helpful paper Yoda in a satisfying tale of friendship and just resistance to authority.

Pitch-perfect middle-school milieu and enough Star Wars references (and laughs) to satisfy fans and win new ones.

(paper-folding instructions) (Graphic hybrid fiction. 9-14)