Book Review: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Release Date: March 1, 2010
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

In this funny, uncannily wise portrait of the dynamics of a sixth-grade class and of the greatness that sometimes comes in unlikely packages, Dwight, a loser, talks to his classmates via an origami finger puppet of Yoda. If that weren’t strange enough, the puppet is uncannily wise and prescient. Origami Yoda predicts the date of a pop quiz, guesses who stole the classroom Shakespeare bust, and saves a classmate from popularity-crushing embarrassment with some well-timed advice. Dwight’s classmate Tommy wonders how Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless. With contributions from his puzzled classmates, he assembles the case file that forms this novel.­

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda was last month’s selection for the Intergenerational Book Club that my sons and I belong to. Both my boys love this book series (Origami Yoda being book one¬ of the series) and I was curious to find out what the appeal was. And now I know. This book is a case file, written by Tommy, of his investigation to find out if Dwight’s Origami Yoda is real. Is Yoda offering wise advice to Tommy and his classmates or is it just Dwight pretending that it’s Yoda? Tommy lets two of his friends read and comment on the case file. One of friends just makes funny drawings in the margins – giving the book the same look as Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, which of course kids love. The other friend does not believe in Origami Yoda at all and offers hilarious devil’s advocate type notes at the bottom of Tommy’s entries. I laughed out loud at some of his comments; they were really funny.

This was a great choice for book club. You can discuss whether or not you think Origami Yoda is real and why Dwight is so strange, among other things. We made Origami Yodas after our discussion which was fun for everyone. There are instructions at the end of the book or you can find easier versions online. We didn’t have snacks this time but Cheetos would have been perfect. One incident that Yoda gives advice on in the book involves Cheetos.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is a fun and funny book that any kid will love, especially if they are a Star Wars or Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans.

For more reviews of books for children and teens, check out Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection, posted on Saturdays. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, you can go to her site to leave a comment and your link .