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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
A nice story about a misfit kid who manages to have friends despite being seriously weird. It captures the hopes and fears of middle-schoolers and seems to get the eternal class struggle if 6th grade.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was fun and the kids in my book group really liked it. There was a lot of discussion about Dwight and Yoda and his ability to predict the future. The book group is mostly 4th and 5th graders but I think any age would enjoy this one. It is smart and fun. I love that Dwight is weird but still has friends and I really like how he uses his weirdness to make himself cool by the end of the book. However, he doesn't completely loose all the weird (as if he could!); there is still that slightly offness about him, but that just makes him Dwight. I really enjoyed the format of the book. The different voices really worked and the commentary from Harvey and Tommy not to mention the art from Kellen really added another dimension to the text. Overall, a lot of fun and a good read.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This got added to my TBR during my tenure as a children's room page AND that I'm a big Star Wars fan. It's a cute book, definitely not for my age range. I appreciated that it wasn't only focused on the boys, some of the girl characters were really sweet! I think the biggest issue I had with it is that Harvey is a big bully! There was a lot of little moments of bullying and not many consequences for it, so that was a bit disappointing for a book targeted at young kids.
Love this book, had a wonderful time reading it aloud using my own origami finger puppet!
Everyone knows that Yoda has magic-like abilities through the force and uncanny wisdom, but so much so that his powers extend even to origami versions of himself? That's what Tommy's working to figure out. One of the admitted social misfits in his sixth grade class, he's amassed a case file of firsthand accounts from his friends and associates chronicling their encounters with Dwight's Origami Yoda. Each short account is told in a different voice and personality with commentary by skeptic Harvey, believer Tommy, and doodler Kellen. Origami Yoda seems to give such good advice and remarkable predictions while sitting on Dwight's finger that he must be real, right? Because Dwight is the school's biggest misfit of all and can't even figure out he should listen to the advice of his own finger puppet, so there's no way all of the insight is coming from Dwight even though Origami Yoda speaks through Dwight's mouth. At least, Tommy is hoping so, because the latest advice is that Tommy should let Sara know he likes her. An excellent recommendation for Wimpy Kid fans needing something else to read.
I really loved this book! This will be a fun one to share with my class this year!
EH...I wanted to like this book. I've heard so many good things, and the hype intrigued me; plus, since Robby is into Star Wars, I thought it would be a great read-aloud (when he was ready). But, I found myself getting caught up in the language and insulting words used by the characters to describe one another. I see the similarities to "Wimpy Kid" but feel that this one was a little over the top for my taste...
Eh. I don’t know how to review this book.
It’s cotton candy, and it’s exactly the kind of book that many kids will love. Plenty of reviews about that.
It’s clever and funny.
My issues:
1. The adults are foolish and clueless. There isn’t a single smart adult who is in touch with kids in the entire book. Maybe the teacher with the Shakespeare statue. Maybe. This is a book full of teachers and references to parents and not a single reliable adult.
2. Lame. Idiot. Dipwad. This book doesn’t use the ‘r’ word, I don’t recall seeing ‘spaz’, but it’s got plenty of other ways for kids to use derogatory language at and with each other. And none of that is ever called out. No one ever thinks it’s a problem. Even though at the end Tommy figures out that Dwight isn’t maybe quite as uncool as he seemed (why, because a girl dances with him), and there are occasional references to feeling badly about being so mean, there is no challenge to derogatory language. I can just imagine people saying, ‘well this is how kids talk to and about each other.’ I get that. I don’t want to reinforce and legitimize that. I certainly don’t want to celebrate it.
3. The friendships don’t make sense. There isn’t anything the friendships are based on, so it doesn’t make sense that kids who are mean to each other all the time are also friends. They aren’t friends if the language of friendship actually means anything. They don’t seem to actually care about each other. They don’t do anything fun together. They don’t even seem to like each other. And they are often mean to each other or around each other and never really resolve any of it. The world of this book does absolutely look a lot like our world, and it totally sucks.
So why 3 stars? Maybe 2.5 rounded up? Maybe 2 rounded down?
Well, this book is for kids what a crappy romance novel is for adults. The writing isn’t great, but the story is cute. It’s candy. It is heteronormative and reinforces a lot of what some of us find truly awful about the world, and it’s really familiar and because of that can feel fun anyway. It makes fun of people who are different, and makes that okay because no harm done. The kid who is picked on the most for the entire book is just fine in the end anyway.
Eh. I don’t know. I read other reviews. People love this book. I wanted to. I really did.
It’s cotton candy, and it’s exactly the kind of book that many kids will love. Plenty of reviews about that.
It’s clever and funny.
My issues:
1. The adults are foolish and clueless. There isn’t a single smart adult who is in touch with kids in the entire book. Maybe the teacher with the Shakespeare statue. Maybe. This is a book full of teachers and references to parents and not a single reliable adult.
2. Lame. Idiot. Dipwad. This book doesn’t use the ‘r’ word, I don’t recall seeing ‘spaz’, but it’s got plenty of other ways for kids to use derogatory language at and with each other. And none of that is ever called out. No one ever thinks it’s a problem. Even though at the end Tommy figures out that Dwight isn’t maybe quite as uncool as he seemed (why, because a girl dances with him), and there are occasional references to feeling badly about being so mean, there is no challenge to derogatory language. I can just imagine people saying, ‘well this is how kids talk to and about each other.’ I get that. I don’t want to reinforce and legitimize that. I certainly don’t want to celebrate it.
3. The friendships don’t make sense. There isn’t anything the friendships are based on, so it doesn’t make sense that kids who are mean to each other all the time are also friends. They aren’t friends if the language of friendship actually means anything. They don’t seem to actually care about each other. They don’t do anything fun together. They don’t even seem to like each other. And they are often mean to each other or around each other and never really resolve any of it. The world of this book does absolutely look a lot like our world, and it totally sucks.
So why 3 stars? Maybe 2.5 rounded up? Maybe 2 rounded down?
Well, this book is for kids what a crappy romance novel is for adults. The writing isn’t great, but the story is cute. It’s candy. It is heteronormative and reinforces a lot of what some of us find truly awful about the world, and it’s really familiar and because of that can feel fun anyway. It makes fun of people who are different, and makes that okay because no harm done. The kid who is picked on the most for the entire book is just fine in the end anyway.
Eh. I don’t know. I read other reviews. People love this book. I wanted to. I really did.
It took me a little while to get into, but was very popular in the parent child book club.
We were able to do a word search while people gathered, then there were slips of paper with sayings that we drew and scrambled into Yoda sayings. Favorite scenes were discussed.
3 readers rated Origami Yoda a "Death Star Explosion!!!!!"
3 readers rated it as "Medal winning ceremony"
1 rated it as an "Ewok"
Questions discussed included:
Why did people follow Yoda's advice if silly? (talked about twist)
We described Harvey (bully? jealous? wanted attention?)
We talked about the scene where there was a vote whether Dwight or Lance should sit at the cafeteria table: Tommy's vote, how people can make things better, why vote and if there could have been other options.
The leader brought out Origami Yoda and took questions about the future.
We looked at the list of the 10 weird things Dwight does (p.42) and talked about which we thought was the weirdest.
We ended by trying our luck on creating an Origami Yoda and signing up for Summer Reading.
We were able to do a word search while people gathered, then there were slips of paper with sayings that we drew and scrambled into Yoda sayings. Favorite scenes were discussed.
3 readers rated Origami Yoda a "Death Star Explosion!!!!!"
3 readers rated it as "Medal winning ceremony"
1 rated it as an "Ewok"
Questions discussed included:
Why did people follow Yoda's advice if silly? (talked about twist)
We described Harvey (bully? jealous? wanted attention?)
We talked about the scene where there was a vote whether Dwight or Lance should sit at the cafeteria table: Tommy's vote, how people can make things better, why vote and if there could have been other options.
The leader brought out Origami Yoda and took questions about the future.
We looked at the list of the 10 weird things Dwight does (p.42) and talked about which we thought was the weirdest.
We ended by trying our luck on creating an Origami Yoda and signing up for Summer Reading.
This book was hilarious! First you start with the title and I was instantly intrigued. An origami Yoda with a light saber, I'm there.
This book reminded me so much of the craziness of the sixth-grade. Does she like him, does he like her. Well Tommy likes Sara, but Sara is a little more popular than Tommy so when Dwight (their strange classmate) folds an origami Yoda and begins giving advice as Yoda, Tommy takes him up on some advice.
Throughout the book I was laughing out loud at parts, especially the dueling Yodas (what could be better)! This is a great little book this is written in a journal, case files way so the chapters are short and I love the commentary at the end of each of the chapters. A great book for those readers just looking for something fun to reading over summer break.
This book reminded me so much of the craziness of the sixth-grade. Does she like him, does he like her. Well Tommy likes Sara, but Sara is a little more popular than Tommy so when Dwight (their strange classmate) folds an origami Yoda and begins giving advice as Yoda, Tommy takes him up on some advice.
Throughout the book I was laughing out loud at parts, especially the dueling Yodas (what could be better)! This is a great little book this is written in a journal, case files way so the chapters are short and I love the commentary at the end of each of the chapters. A great book for those readers just looking for something fun to reading over summer break.