It's hard for me not to love any kids' book that's as adamantly against standardized testing as Jabba the Puppet is - after all, I'm a teacher, so reading a book in which a student rebellion rises up to fight standardized testing and return focus to electives in schools kind of warms my heart by default. But that wouldn't matter if Jabba the Puppet wasn't an entertaining book on its own merits; luckily, the book feels like a return to form for the Origami Yoda series, which was starting to bog down and lose its focus in the last entry. It helps that there's a tighter plot to this one, and that the Origami Star Wars characters feel more integral to the story at this point; while they're not as essential as they were in the first entries, having them evolve into a symbol of resistance and defiance is a nice move, and allows the series to play with the Star Wars allusions in interesting ways. I still have issues with the series, here and there; while the cast of supporting characters keeps expanding, some more depth and nuance might be satisfying, and that's doubly true when it comes to adult characters. (That being said, the way Angleberger keeps creating home life for his characters through allusions and throw-away lines is really satisfying - look at the picture we're starting to get about Tommy and Dwight's home lives and just how difficult they might be.) I don't think Jabba is as solid as the first couple of entries, but it's a definite step in the right direction, and I'm excited to keep reading the series to see how this final plot thread develops over the last few books. (And if it makes kids resent standardized tests in advance, hey, all the better!)
- Josh Mauthe
- Josh Mauthe