Author: Jeffrey Brown
Age Range: 8 and up
Grade Level: 3 – 7
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars
I first heard about author/illustrator Jeffrey Brown when he released his bestselling book “Darth Vader and Son”. At the time, my wife was a few months away from having our daughter and I wondered where the female version of that book was. Well a few months later, “Vader’s Little Princess” was released. Read our interview with Jeffrey, here. When I spoke with him, he gave us a sneak peak at “Star Wars: Jedi Academy” and I know I just had to have it. Sure the age range is 8 and up but key word being up. I finished this book in literally one sitting and loved every minute of it. If you are a “Star Wars” fan young or old, this is a must have in your collection!.
The story is really cute and fun. It follows a young boy Roan and his journeys through middle school as he attempt to complete his dream of leaving home and becoming a Pilot Academy like his older brother, father, and grandfather. When he is denied entry into Pilot School, he fears that he will end up having to go to farming school instead. But instead he receives an invitation out of the blue to attend Jedi Academy from Master Yoda and decides to give it a try. He find that he possesses more strength and potential than he could have ever dreamed and that his destiny leads him to a new path.
The illustrations in the book are extremely fun and each page is a new journey into this world. They are black and white and have a real fun comic book feel. There is tons of great humor all mixed within the common issues and stresses of attending middle school. Since we either you are going through it or have been through it, the story and its situations are very relatable no matter what age you are. It is told through various formats including Ronan’s comics, journal entries, letters, doodles, and newspaper clippings. So at first you will be reading his report card and then a letter from his brother. It moves the story along so well and makes it very entertaining and fresh. I do not think that I have ever sat down just to check out a book and ended up reading the entire book within a few hours.