The final Origami Yoda case file from the kids at McQuarrie Middle School! After successfully fighting to save their field trip in Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue!, Tommy and the gang prepare for a well-earned day of fun and adventure in Washington, DC . . . but of course it won’t be that easy! This trip to the nation's capital will be full of shifting alliances and betrayals, carsickness and sugar rushes. Trouble starts even before the buses leave school, when Principal Rabbski decrees the field trip an “origami-free zone.” Dwight secretly folds a Yoda from a Fruit Roll-Up, but will Fruitigami Yoda be a match for Harvey's sour, hate-filled pickle of darkness? Astronaut ice cream, a supersonic plane, a Johnny Appleseed sighting, and a near arrest—are just some of the clues in the sweetest, stookiest, biggest, craziest Origami Yoda case file yet.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Not quite as good as the rest of the series, but still a fun ride
By Kenya Starflight
The "Origami Yoda" books have been a consistently good read for me. Whereas many other book series start to slide in quality after about the third or fourth volume, Angelberger's series remained well-done and entertaining throughout. The colorful and unique cast of characters, great humor, entertaining story with realistic challenges for the characters to face, and of course the many, many Star Wars references sprinkled throughout made for a great series, good for the Star Wars enthusiast and/or fans of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" or "Big Nate" series. And despite being older than its target audience, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.I was slightly disappointed to pick up the final book of the series, "Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus," and find a slight drop in quality. It's still a fun read, but not quite as good as the rest of the series."Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue" ended with the seventh graders of McQuarrie Middle School having defeated the FunTime Menace and preparing for their field trip to Washington DC, something FunTime would have denied them. But what promised to be a fun trip is quickly spiraling out of control -- Principal Rabbski is grumpier than ever, the buses are cramped and smelly, and Harvey is back to his old ornery ways, annoying and threatening everyone on his bus with a half-origami, half-pickle puppet he dubs "Emperor Pickletine." And worse, the eccentric Dwight's mysterious partner Origami Yoda can't help -- the principal has banned origami on this trip! But Dwight proves to be more resourceful than everyone realizes, and with the help of a pack of fruit snacks and some ingenuity he just may save the field trip from total disaster.As always, the book provides a colorful cast of characters that acts realistically. It's refreshing to see a book about REAL kids instead of miniature adults, and see that the kids aren't always outsmarting the adults or having all their schemes turn out perfectly. Dwight is still Dwight, of course, and Harvey's slid back into his role as a series villain, but for the most part the characters have evolved over the course of the story, and it's refreshing to see them learn and grow.The various nods to the Star Wars franchise, both in the text and via Kellen's doodles in the margins, are always fun as well. It does mean that kids (and adults) will probably get more out of this series if they've seen at least some of the films, but it still makes the books a real treat for both the casual and the hardcore fan. And as always, the book comes with instructions for your own origami Star Wars characters throughout.My beef with this book? With the FunTime menace abolished in the previous book, it feels as if there's nothing for the characters to work for in this book. There's no urgency, no sense of something that needs to be accomplished -- no proving whether or not Origami Yoda can really tell the future, no saving Dwight, no battle against FunTime, etc. And without something to drive a real plot, it feels rather episodic in nature, a bunch of unrelated incidents strung together to make a book. And while I'm sure Angelberger can fill books for YEARS with the exploits of Dwight, Tommy, Harvey, Kellen, and all the others, it helps if there's an actual plot and not just "wacky adventures" to carry the story.I think this book would have worked better if the final confrontation with FunTime had taken place in THIS book instead of in the previous one. It would have made for a more satisfying conclusion to the series than just following a field trip gone nuts.Complaint about the plot aside, this is still a fun and enjoyable addition to the Origami Yoda series, and a good ending to the series as a whole. The end does hint that we may not have seen the last of Yoda and gang, though, so keep your eyes open...
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
meandering
By bat12
I was disappointed in this book. Nothing of real interest happened here. The plot development never seemed to materialize for me. There was nothing to collectively overcome for the middle schoolers. Harvey liked Sara so he punched Tommy in the nose at the end of the book seemed to come out of left field. Ms. Rabbski and Mr. Howell's get together felt thrown in like a lot of staff in this episode. This book felt disjointed and written in a rush compared to his other books. I did not feel he came up with a lot of new creative material. The fruit roll up origami was real good along with the food Star Wars characters but the middle schoolers did not seem to have any problems facing them in this episode. Another spill on the pants that looks like pee episode takes place. Did not like the whole bathroom on the bus part of the book.Could somebody have gotten lost in D.C. during the field trip, wandered off into another museum, or broke something at one of the museums and needed the origami characters to help them? Then with the lack of fruit roll ups they had to figure things out for themselves thus culminating with Ghost Yoda.For me the plot points were never fleshed out and the book meandered its way around. The other books in this series seemed to have something to say about friendship, adversity- you know an overall message about life. Well this one did not for me. I think it was suppose to be about how they could do it for themselves from now on and did not need Yoda anymore except it was not incorporated into the plot. In the last case file it just jumps out and feels disjointed to me.Not that the book is bad or anything. It just was not as good as the others. There was such a high bar set with the rest of the series and this unfortunately fell a bit short for me.Don't get me wrong - It is still totally worth reading and entertaining just not as good as some of the other's in the series.Hopefully he will bring Yoda back in the future and really go out on a high note.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
BEST YET! (with some kissing)
By Joseph K.
Tom Anglebra has really put alot of effort into this book. Spoilers, there are some unexpected couples and kissing (eek!). Quavando x Jen, Kellen x Cassie, Ben x Remi and MR HOWELL X MS RABBSKI!!!!!!??? My favorite part was when they got a flat tire on the way back and couldn't go to Mcdonalds so they went to Wendys and biggied their size combo for thirty nine cents! Then the twist comes on (thats right! the twist!) and they all dance to it. Harvey gets really mad and accuses Dwight of purposly putting on the twist. But the whole time he had been under a table with his kids meal. On the way back on the bus Sara and Tommy kiss (eww) then Harvey punches Tommy in the nose because (spoiler) he also likes Sara. Over all great book!
