Angleberger, T., & Rosenstock, J. (2015). The strange case of Origami Yoda. New York, NY: Henry N.

Abrams.

In this book the main character Dwight is a 6^th grader who is considered weird by his classmates.  One day he decides to an origami finger puppet of Yoda from Star Wars.  Imitating Yoda’s voice, Dwight provides advice to his classmates using Yoda as his “spokesperson.”  It doesn’t take long for the kids to believe that this ‘Yoda’ is actually connected to The Force.  Tommy decides to write a case file about Yoda to prove that he is real and another student Kellen does the illustration.  One student Harvey, attempts to disrupt their case file and prove that the Yoda is not real. 

The layout of the book is perfect for young readers.  It fits in the comedy/humor diary and journal genre.  Its target audience is grades 3 – 5 and deals with middle school issues and understanding yourself and others.  The lexile reading level is 760.  This novel is perfect for this age group.  The pages appear to be crumpled (just like middle-school kid’s papers).  The novel looks like a ‘case file’.  It has doodles in the margins like notes and illustrations that fit the context.  I think this might be a great way to introduce a new generation to the Star Wars franchise.  It could easily be adapted in the classroom for learning to write abbreviated notes, organization and keeping track of events.  I loved this book and so did my 14 year old son, even though he is a bit old.  It was a perfect connection to his video gaming on the Xbox.  There is also tons of fan fiction regarding this volume of the 3 volume series