Monday, May 3, 2010

Spreading the Awesome: 10 Stars for The Strange Case of Origami Yoda


Amulet Books, 2010

I've been blogging about this great new book by local author Tom Angleberger.

I went to one of his book signings and blogged about it here.

He recently was on WDBJ7 for an interview. I linked to that here.

There was a great article about this book in The Roanoke Times.

But, I hadn't blogged about the book itself. Until today. My writing group friend, Angie Smibert, told me about blogging about a book that you think is awesome. It's called "Spread the Awesome" and we are supposed to blog about a book that deserves 10 stars. It's promoted by Elana Johnson. The big day is May 3, so I held out on my lovefest of this book until today.


Gist of the book: Dwight is a nerd and everyone knows it, but Dwight has this Yoda--an origami Yoda. Yoda gives advice and talks in that strange sentence structure that Yoda speaks in. The book is told from different character's points of view each giving their story about their encounter with origami Yoda and whether he really has powers. It's like a case file collection of Yoda and his advice and whether it worked or not. The whole book is filled with hilarious stories of what Yoda has done for each character and the healthy doubt that comes from believing a talking folded piece of paper.

Top Five Reasons I Love this Book:

1. It is hilarious. What is funnier than a nerdy kid carrying around an origami Yoda and giving advice to his friends? It's LOL funny.

2. Boys will love this book. I'm a teacher and I bought a "school copy" of this book from Scholastic Book Clubs. I do book talks about different books. I showed the video of Angleberger talking about this book, and showed them them the Roanoke Times article about it. The book literally flew out of my hands. I am taking my signed copy to school tomorrow (which I normally don't do) because so many kids want to read it. I also will be placing another Scholastic order for some more copies. And by the way, girls will love this book too.

3. The design of this book is kid-enticing. The cover jumps right out at you. The pages inside look crinkly--like some kid wrote his story, then crumpled it up and threw it in the trash can because he was so embarrassed. There are cool drawings and doodles throughout the book that make it fun and kid-like.

4. Angleberger is a master of characters. He makes these characters real and really nails the voice for each one. It would be difficult to write a distinctive voice for each kid that tells his story about Yoda, but he does it and does it well.

5. He's a local author. He writes for our local paper. I love seeing local authors become really successful. Need I say more??

13 comments:

Angie said...

Great review, Marcie. I'll have to get the book!

Taffy said...

Awesome! Another boys book!

Christine Fonseca said...

Omgosh...this sounds so funny. Really, you had me at the title!

Bethany Wiggins said...

This sounds and looks hilarious! Seriously, if the book is as good as the cover, I'll be in heaven when I read it.

Jonathon Arntson said...

I have never heard of this book. How is that possible, it looks fantastic! I'll blame it on its newness. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Unknown said...

What a fantastic title! Sounds like a wonderful read. Thanks for the recommendation!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I actually picked up this book at the bookstore today and very nearly bought it. Next time, I will! Thanks for the review! :-)

Jeanne Ryan (Serenissima) said...

My son would love this! Thanks for the rec!

Corinne O said...

this sounds hysterical! My son will lose it, after I read it...

Thanks for the awesome!

Sherrie Petersen said...

My son just bought this book while we were on vacation in South Carolina. It's hilarious! Good choice :)

Jenn Adams said...

Excuse me while I go add this book to my must-be-read-right-this-minute list. :o)

Elizabeth Mueller said...

How wonderful! I'll get this book for my little boy--I'm sure he'll love it, too! :) Thanks for sharing it with us. :)

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