As educators and experts have told us for years, whatever your child is reading — magazine articles, graphic novels, comics, sports bios — it’s all good, because it’s all still reading. So when you combine the format of a graphic novel, the humor of the most popular middle grade series, and the Star Wars universe, you basically have a winning combination, even for the most reluctant readers.
That’s what you’ll find in the newest book in the popular Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, Revenge of the Sis: A Christina Starspeeder Story by Jarrett J. Krosoczka and (my talented friend) Amy Ignatow, which introduces an entirely new story arc to the franchise.
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If you know Jarrett’s humor from the Lunch Lady graphic novel series, and Amy’s humor from the Odds & Ends series, well, combine them and you can imagine how hard I was laughing reading through a copy of Revenge of the Sis.
Besides the fact that Christina Starspeeder, is you know, heading off to advanced Jedi training to master the skills of keeping peace and balance in the universe, she’s an otherwise relatable teen; she’s got hangups, anxiety, social insecurities, a snarky brother, and an estranged dad who ran off to become a Sith. Which is, you know, totally embarrassing.
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She can be found scrolling through he Instagram-esque Stargram to check her likes or catch up on the Star Wars cantina bar band’s latest album news — and hopefully not find any awful gossip about herself.
(Sound like any tweens or teens you know?)
Arriving at her new school (on an entirely new planet), Christina tries to make new friends in her dorm, try to keep up with the other kids, and figure out how to work with “obnoxious” droids, all while doing her best to become a worthy apprentice, earning praise from her tough Jedi master instructor, and avoiding causing any intergalactic “incidents.”
Mayhem ensues, as you may have guessed.
Revenge of the Sis is silly in all the right ways, and smart in all the right ways making it perfect for kids about 8-12. Star Wars fans will love picking up on all the references and Easter eggs throughout the book, but even kids who don’t know Star Wars all that well will enjoy identifying with Christina’s struggles, the way they might have with Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries – even if the climax does involve the slightly less relatable rescue attempt of the Jedi masters from frozen carbonite.
I can see Christina going far! Not just galactically speaking.
Find Revenge of the Sis: A Christina Starspeeder Story by Jarrett J. Krosoczka and Amy Ignatow from our affiliate Amazon or your local indie bookseller.
Images © Scholastic Publishing
