Children’s Books: The Secret of the Fortune Wookie by Tom Angleberger

Breaking the rule that says the first of a trilogy is the best, the third book the popular Origami Yoda series has come out, and I thought that this was the best one yet! This addition to the trio was full of hilarity and kept me hooked throughout the whole book, with interesting stories and fun concepts. Tom Angleberger has continued his streak of wonderful books with this great story.

The star of The Secret of the Fortune Wookie (Amulet) is ... well, a Fortune Wookie: a cootie catcher designed to look like the famous character Chewbacca from Star Wars. This time, our origami wielder is none other than Sara, the girlfriend of our main character, Tommy. She lets the students ask questions, which are answered with roars and are translated by the Fortune Wookie’s friend, Han Foldo. But, while the students have fun with the Fortune Wookie, the infamous Harvey is trying to prove that all this origami stuff is fake, and that he’s been right all along. Meanwhile, the star of the first books in the series, Dwight and Origami Yoda, are trapped at a fancy private school where everyone has picked up on making Star Wars origami, making Dwight miserable and no longer unique. Read Secret of the Fortune Wookie to see how everything is resolved. Is Harvey right? Is the Fortune Wookie real? Will Dwight escape from private school?

Tom Angleberger is the praised author of the first two Origami Yoda books, Horton Halfpott and Fake Mustache. He lives in Roanoke, Virginia, with his wife, CeCe Bell. He works for the newspaper, The Roanoke Times. ◊

Ian Buchsbaum is a kid who loves to read. In fact, the only thing he loves more than reading is writing. He loves writing about books -- and he’s already writing one of his own.