The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee (Origami Yoda #3)

I've mostly enjoyed the "Origami Yoda" series, which mixes a love of Star Wars and odd characters with typical middle school drama (tension between boys and girls, the urge to fit in), but The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee is the first one that felt aa bit uninspired and dull. Part of that just comes from the structure; when you take Dwight, the creator of Origami Yoda and the wonderfully weird figure who the first two books orbited around, and remove him from the story, you're basically taking the most interesting character out of the story and hoping everyone else can carry it. And while Fortune Wookiee is fine enough, it definitely feels less anarchic and fun than its predecessors, and it lacks some of the heart that Darth Paper started to bring out. There are still some nice moments, mostly revolving around the kids starting to realize how Dwight is changing at his new school and why it might not be for the best, but in general Fortune Wookiee is a disappointing entry in the series, one that lacks a lot of the fun and whimsy of the other entires and ends up feeling more generic and dull than you'd expect. It's still got some nice moments here and there, and the derails into Dwight's life are always welcome and nicely done, but in general, I didn't enjoy reading it with my son the way I did the first two. That all being said, the elements in here that set up the fourth book are really intriguing, and I'm looking forward to see if Jabba the Puppet is a nice return to form for the set.

The Secrets of the Fortune Wookie was a good book. It is the third book in the Origami Yoda series. I liked it but, I do not think it is as good as the two other books. The type of audience that would like this book are those that have read the other books in the series, middle school students or people who like Star Wars. This audience would like this book because it is about middle school and the characters are funny and interesting. There are cool origami characters like the Fortune Wookie, who helps the students at McQuarrie Middle School. This book stands out from other books I have read because it is realistic, easy to follow and descriptive. The author does a good job making the story come alive and the characters seem real, or they could be kids I know. I liked the Secrets of the Fortune Wookie mainly because the Origami Yoda series continues and some of the same characters like Dwight and his friends that I read about in the other books are in this book.

by David R.

Dwight is normal and boring? Is Origami Yoda no more? There's a new finger puppet in town, Fortune Wookiee, that's too good to be true. Here's another fantastic case file about McQuarrie Middle and Star Wars themed origami and kirigami. I loved the characters and middle grade voice in this book. This series keeps getting better and better. I enjoyed the first two books, but this was my favorite. Maybe I'll say the same about the next installment.

The Secret of the Fortune Wookie by Tom Angleberger is about kids from McQuarrie Middle School making a case file of all the experiences they've had on what's happening. The kids at McQuarrie miss Dwight, who got suspended and then moved to a private school, Tippet Academy. Dwight had a little origami Yoda on his finger, giving people advice, Origami Yoda made everybodys life better. This case file is about how their lives were changed by the absence of Dwight and how they try to bring him back. I liked reading this book!

So with Dwight gone, there is less weirdness.(than an average origami yoda book.) I liked the kind of mystery/warning of an ending. The 'secret'of the Fortune Wookiee,it really made me wonder about the story.(ex.what is the secret of the fortune wookiee?)

The fortune wookie book was really good. It was a case file about a school where the most interesting person got suspended and everything is really boring without him.
The main character thought there was nothing to write about when he finds out Dwight (the kid that was suspended) was acting very strange(er). then it turns in to a full out investigation.

The fortune wookie book was really good. It was a case file about a school where the most interesting person got suspended and everything is really boring without him.
The main character thought there was nothing to write about when he finds out Dwight (the kid that was suspended) was acting very strange(er). then it turns in to a full out investigation.

The third installment of the origami yoda book is in my opinion the best one yet! Author Tom Angleberger maximises all the stuff that made this series popular with fans of diary of a wimpy kid and adds stuff that will attract older kids. A must read for star wars fans with a sence of humor. A cliffhanger ending garentees a sequal

Sometimes books can break cardinal writing rules and still get published. Of those, a few are of high enough quality to prove to the world that rules can and should be broken. Unfortunately, others such as The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger prove the opposite.

One cardinal rule is not to start with the back story. The reason? Readers don't yet have a reason to care for the main character and so even the smallest account of the main character's past will bore them. In The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee, Angleberger dedicates not just the first paragraph or the first page but the entire first chapter to an introduction of Dwight. He's a character who apparently got suspended in the second book and has since switched schools, taking his Origami Yoda with him. While Dwight is an integral character in the lives of other main characters, and does eventually figure more in the current story, at this point he's a character in absentia. Moreover, his origami and the related case files are meaningless to me. At this point I'm thinking: Who cares?

Another cardinal rule is to introduce an interesting conflict as soon as possible. I guess one could quibble here about how interesting of a problem it is that Dwight has switched schools, his old friends are bored, and Tommy needs to start a case file without him. Maybe it's not these scenarios that are dull, but rather Angleberger's execution of them. Dwight is apparently the only one who can keep Tommy and his friends from doing dumb stuff. He's also the only reason they have anything worth doodling about. Oh, and they're now too scared to talk to girls. One of the group members, Harvey, still has a tongue but he's always just loud and rude. Tell you what, by the end of the first chapter, I'm starting to feel as if at a slumber party where everyone is a little overtired, sounding whiny and weird, but no one has the sense to sleep. If I'd read the books in order, then maybe my preexisting affection for these characters would have seen me through. But because I started with the third book, I had no affection, just annoyance. Even worse, I'm still thinking: Who cares?

A third cardinal rule, and the last I'll cover in this review, is to stick to one point of view. Okay, let me modify that to say that one can write a story from multiple viewpoints but only if one can create clearly distinguishable characters. I'll give Angleberger credit that first, whenever he switches viewpoints, he also starts a new chapter. Second, the first few chapters are mostly from Tommy's viewpoint and so I finally started to feel comfortable with him. After that, though, almost every chapter is told from the perspective of a different character, which meant half the time I'd reach the end of a chapter and have to refer back to the start to know who the heck the story was about. After a while I developed the habit of checking for this info at the front of every new chapter, but that still didn't make me feel any less frustrated. At least most of these later stories were interesting enough that I did finally start to care.

To end on a positive note, I did appreciate Angleberger's message. Remember how I said that Dwight would eventually figure into the story more? Well, turns out that Dwight has fit into his new school too well, to the point that he is almost perfect. He does everything his parents tell him to do, never argues with his peers, and spends most of his time doing homework. His friends intervene to help him escape, because they miss the weird and wacky Dwight. Many teens have inner quirks which they're afraid to share. Angleberger offers reassurances that it's okay to be different. I just wish that this message had been contained a more engaging package.

This book was a real disappointment, despite its clever title. My 8 year old son picked this up with enthusiasm from the school book fair. Though riding the coattails of STAR WARS popularity, it has more in common with the Captain Underwear series, demonizing the school principal and praising the kid that gets suspended from school. It encourages rude behavior, and suggests anything is excusable to avoid boredom. The deliberate use of poor grammar and incorrect punctuation is ok for an adult book, but seriously confusing to kids who are still getting graded on those points. The best aspect of the book was it's instructions on how to make the Cootie Catcher and that was all that caught the interest of my 8 year old. Do we really need any more materials encouraging and modeling disrespectful behavior and attitudes? I don't think so.

Clever, funny and cute! My kids love me reading this to them all the time! It's good humor with the benefit of not being a crappy electronic. Kids enjoy it, and parents will too...I do! The force is strong with this one!