The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Reviewed by EllenRatings
Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content
LANGUAGE
VIOLENCE
SEXUAL CONTENT
ADULT THEMES
Ratings Explanation
Language: No swear words, but typical middle school name-calling and language (shut up, jerk, poop, fartface, bejeezus).
Violence: A boy gets beaten up by a school bully.
Sexual Content: A boy and girl kiss. Some hand-holding as kids pair up at the school dance.
Adult Themes: Underage kids sneak into an R-rated movie. Some kids cheat on a pop quiz.
Synopsis
Tommy is a sixth-grader at McQuarrie Middle School with the usual circle of dorky friends. One friend in particular, Dwight (generally considered the weirdest boy in school), comes to school one day with an origami puppet of Yoda on his finger. If that isn’t strange enough, Dwight tells everyone to talk to Yoda and ask him for advice. Then Dwight responds in Yoda-like language (“Ask him, you must. Wise, Yoda is.”) Even Tommy asks Yoda the burning question on his mind–should he or should he not ask Sara to dance at the PTA Fun Night? Soon the most interesting things begin to happen, and everyone is beginning to believe that Origami Yoda might, in fact, possess magical Jedi wisdom. But how can this be, when Dwight himself is so socially inept? Tommy decides to get to the bottom of it all by interviewing everyone at school about their experiences with Origami Yoda’s advice and compiling the scientific evidence. Underneath all the humorous first-person accounts with Yoda and silly doodles in the margin is a story designed to unravel the biggest mystery of all: how to navigate the awkward waters of middle school social life.
Even if Star Wars was never your thing, it would be hard to resist the sage words of Origami Yoda and the adolescent voices that recount them. This book will likely be compared to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series–similar target audience and artwork–but with a very different twist, and minus the gastric distress humor (hallelujah!). Surely the world could do with fewer jokes about potty humor and bodily functions in the hands of 12- and 13-year old boys. Origami Yoda is a refreshing change of pace that will keep your son (or daughter) laughing. This book has a sequel, Darth Paper Strikes Back: an Origami Yoda Book.