The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee is the third Origami Yoda title, and fans will be delighted to know that the storyline seems to indicate that it will not be the last. Once again, the story is told in the form of a case file compiled by Tommy and his friends, filled with anecdotes by McQuarrie Middle School students, cartoon drawings, and humorous interjections by Tommy and his gang. As in previous books, the Fortune Wookiee dispenses mysterious advice on dicey middle school situations like how to avoid eating Grandma's mystery meat at the holidays, what to do when the person you like likes someone else, whether or not you have to do homework in complete sentences... problems every upper elementary and lower middle school student can certainly relate to. An underlying theme of the book is concern for Dwight and how he is faring at his new school. What began as eccentricities (or possibly an unnamed social disability) made Dwight weird and an outcast, but via Origami Yoda, he and his quirks have become a part of the fabric of his school. When his classmates fear that in an effort to fit in, he is changing what they love about him the most, they intervene on his behalf in a wonderful celebration of their appreciation of his unique qualities. This book will probably be most appreciated by boys, but girls will enjoy it too, and all students will benefit from the developing spirit of camaraderie embodied at McQuarrie Middle School. Very mild language (cr-p, sn-t) is used infrequently.
