by Jeffrey Brown
Roan couldn’t wait to finish elementary school so he could finally move on to Pilot Academy for middle school. All of his friends got acceptance letters, but he was rejected. When he receives a letter from a Jedi named Yoda, things start looking up. Fitting in at a new school is hard, and some of his teachers are hard to understand - master Yoda and his Wookie gym teacher, especially. He was recruited because Yoda sensed the force in him, but so far, that isn’t going well either. Could middle school get any worse?
In journal format filled with written entries, Roan’s comics, and other memorabilia from his first year at Jedi Academy, Brown’s latest Star Wars title is fun, funny, and quite an original take on the Star Wars enterprise. Fans of Star Wars, graphic novels and quirky diary format books (read: Wimpy Kid) will look for future installments as Roan’s continues his education at Jedi Academy. A great choice in particular for 4th-6th grade.
Funny story: One of my students was peering over my shoulder while I was reading this during break at our after-school program and said "Ugh! Graphic novels! I HATE graphic novels!" and then, instead of walking away, he stood over my shoulder for the next 15 minutes and read along with me. When I put the book down I said "So, graphic novels? You HATE graphic novels! And yet you stood over my shoulder reading and laughing for the last 15 minutes. What do you have to say about that?" He insisted he still didn't like graphic novels, but somehow, I don't believe him.
Star Wars: Jedi Academy was recognized by YALSA as one of the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels.
And since it exists and is cute, here's the book trailer!
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