March 15, 2014
Is Principal Rabbski the evil Empress of FunTime or the Origami Rebel Alliance's only hope? Picking up where The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppet (2013) left off, the seventh graders of McQuarrie Middle School and their individual, ever-present origami Star Wars character puppets continue their fight with Principal Rabbski to restore their fun (and educational) elective classes and themselves of the soul-crushingly boring standardized test prep classes created by FunTime. Principal Rabbski agreed (when threatened with purposeful test-flunking) to try to do something about the embarrassing rapping-calculator videos and repetitive worksheets of FunTime, but she's done nothing for weeks. Now, it seems one of the rebels has given Principal Rabbski the latest case file, covered with printed labels--ostensibly notes from Princess Labelmaker-- telling her she is their "only hope." Meanwhile, the Origami Rebel Alliance continues to try to learn and help one another. They play crab soccer, put on their lunchtime musical and prove to Mike's mother Star Wars is not evil--but will the coming of Xtreme.Funa"[ seal their doom? Fans will devour this satisfying and nicely realistic conclusion to the story set up in the previous volume. Characters grow, and non-Star Wars pop-culture references seep in. Readers new to the series are advised to go back to the beginning; they won't regret it. Cheers of "STOOKY!" will rise when Origami Yoda answers "The End?" with "Way No!" (Graphic fiction hybrid. 9-12)
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May 1, 2014
Gr 4-7-The students at McQuarry Middle School resume their battle against FunTime, the Orwellian-named test program purchased by the school district in an effort to raise test scores.
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2014
The FunTime Menace (a deadly boring test prep program) is still wreaking havoc at McQuarrie Middle School in the sixth book in the series. The only way to abolish FunTime is to get Principal Rabbski on the side of the Rebellion, but the Origami Rebel Alliance will have to risk everything to win her over. Angleberger continues to develop authentic and engaging voices in these "case files."
(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)