The Library Police
  • Home
  • The Library Police Podcast
    • Episode 250: Endings
    • Episode 249: The Lightning Round Returns
    • Episode 248: Lightning Round!
    • Episode 246: What A Difference A Decade Makes
    • Episode 245: The Portrayal of Violence in Fiction
    • Episode 244: Books to Cheer You Up
    • Episode 243: How To Read Gooder
    • Episode 242: Romance In Fiction
    • Episode 241: The Past Looms Large
    • Episode 240: How We've Grown As Readers
    • Episode 239: Saladin Ahmed's Black Bolt
    • Episode 238: A Hannibal Playlist
    • Episode 237: The Mini-Primers
    • Episode 236: Revenge of the MiniTopics
    • Episode 235: Flawed Books That We Love
    • Episode 234: Expectations and Entitlement
    • Episode 233: The Literary Canon
    • Episode 232: Playlist - The Marvel Cinematic Universe
    • Episode 231: The Perfect Nanny
    • Episode 230: SciFi V. Fantasy
    • Episode 229: Playlist - Legion
    • Episode 228: Playlist - The Americans
    • Episode 227: Should you read YA Fiction?
    • Episode 226: The Dark Tower, Books 5-7
    • Episode 224: Media for Non-Readers
    • Episode 223: Getting Into A Reading Groove
    • Episode 222: 2017 Gift Guide
    • Episode 221: The Dark Tower, Books 1-4
    • Thanksgiving Throwback: Episode 128, Featuring Christopher Merchant
    • Episode 220: The Taboo Topics
    • Episode 219: SCBWI 2017
    • Episode 218: Classics Vs. Modern
    • Episode 217: A Primer for Thrillers
    • Episode 216: The Adventure Zone Balance Arc
    • Episode 215: Young Adult Fight
    • Episode 214: What Does An Author Owe You
    • Episode 213: Adaptations
    • Episode 212: Beach Reading
    • Episode 211: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
    • Episode 210: Interactive Storytelling
    • Episode 209: Audiobooks and Audio Storytelling
  • Features
    • A Good Story Poorly Told
    • Where Everyone Has Gone Before
    • Top Twenty Board Games of All Time
    • The Joy of Desperation
    • Prometheus: A Debate
    • Dude Writes Like A Lady
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Television Reviews
  • Interviews
    • Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
    • Katie McGarry
    • Gennifer Choldenko
    • Donald Bain
    • Logan L. Masterson
    • Catriona McPherson
    • Graham Brown
    • F. Paul Wilson
    • Will Lavender
    • Jeffery Deaver
    • Peter Straub
    • Dr. Bill Bass
    • Bruce DeSilva
    • D. Alan Lewis
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Forums
  • Announcement

Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue

1/21/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Unlike most of the other books in the Origami Yoda series, Princess Labelmaker doesn't really stand on its own; it all but requires you to have read The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Hutt, as it's basically a continuation of that book's ongoing way between students and the standardized tests that are taking over the school. That doesn't really make the book worse, though; if anything, it allows author Tom Angleberger to play a little more, given that his setup is already taken care of. There's an apparent traitor in the Origami Rebellion, depending on how you look at things; someone has given the rebellion's case file to Principal Rabbski, in what seems like an attempt to get the principal to better understand why the kids are fighting back so hard. I commented when I read Jabba the Puppet that as a teacher, I couldn't really hate any book that was so firmly against standardized testing, and the same feeling applies to Labelmaker, which nicely reminds you that it's unlikely that any teachers are all that thrilled about it either. Indeed, much of the point of the book is realizing that standardized testing is rarely the choice of anyone involved - it's not the choice of the students nor the school administration, but those in charge who seem more and more disconnected with real life in schools. (And the financial aspect of the testing is no small part of it - another point that Angleberger nicely makes without ever forcing the issue.) I don't like Princess Labelmaker quite as much as I liked Jabba the Puppet; it feels a little overlong and a bit repetitive at times, and it's lacking some of the nice moments of depth that I enjoy in the series a lot (although I continue to enjoy the glimpses we get of Tommy and Dwight's lives and how much Angleberger achieves with small hints instead of long monologues). But it's still an enjoyable, silly series, and I like how Angleberger manages to mix in some comments about the state of education with a silly, low-key middle school series.


- Josh Mauthe

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.