The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett (Origami Yoda #4)

“The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett” follows Tommy and his gang of friends as they try to thwart a new enemy: FunTime, or as it’s more appropriately labeled from time to time, The FunTime Menace. FunTime is supposed to help McQuarrie Middle School students excel at the upcoming statewide tests. Unfortunately, all it does is annoy the heck out of these kids, so with the help of (Captain) Dwight and Origami Yoda, McQuarrie’s students devise a way to fight back.

What I liked about this saga of the Origami Yoda series is that the cast of origami characters expands exponentially. Not only do we get to see Jabba the Puppett, but we get origami versions of Queen Amidala, Mace Windu, Obi Wan Kenobi, and a whole slew of Star Wars characters I completely forgot about until I saw their very clever origami counterparts. Each origami character has a McQuarrie kid backing it up, making each student feel like a main character in the action, as opposed to just Tommy leading the story. This book left me feeling like Angleberger is making a completely developed universe out of McQuarrie Middle School, just as George Lucas has done with Star Wars.

What really brought this feeling of world development to the Origami Yoda series was that “Jabba the Puppett” has moved beyond questioning whether or not Yoda’s prophecies are real to using his advice to actually defeat villains in the children’s lives. This made the case files feel more pointed and mature than they have in the past, yet still with the sense of wonder these books capture so well. “Jabba the Puppett” ends with anticipation of an even bigger villain, with even greater challenges for the kids to face. I’m eager to see how the Origami Rebel Alliance confronts these foes!