Kid Konnection: Jedi Academy A New Class

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week I'm going to share with you a fun middle grade graphic novel with a Star Wars theme!

Summary: Victor Starspeeder is psyched to be starting school at the Jedi Academy. His sister, Christina does not share an enthusiasm for Victor's newfound educational path. She's horrified that her annoying baby brother will be there to cramp her style.

While Victor means well, his excess energy leads him to spend a lot of time in detention with the little, green sage, Yoda. Yoda wants to channel Victor's talents, so he makes the young Padawan join the drama club. Victor is not pleased. "Learn to control your anger, you must! Successfully manage their emotions, a good Jedi can. Box step and jazz hands ... hee hee ... young Padawan will!"

Victor will have to make new friends, get on his sister's good side, learn to use the force, and hope the year's drama club performance ("Wookie Side Story"? "Annie Get Your Lightsaber"?) goes off without a hitch! -- Scholastic

Booking Son isn't always excited about new books that come into our home. In fact, I can buy him a big order from Scholastic and he turns his nose up to every single book. However, when a package arrived last week with the new book STAR WARS JEDI ACADEMY A NEW CLASS by Jarrett J. Krosoczka and a tee-shirt, he was pretty darn happy!

STAR WARS JEDI ACADEMY A NEW CLASS is actually the fourth book in this series but the first by Mr. Krosoczka.; and I thought it was adorable. Booking Son has read a few of the books in this series when he was younger (he can't remember which ones!), and he seemed to enjoy this one quite a bit too. It was both funny and sweet, and as a mom, I loved the messages.

A NEW CLASS tells the story of Victor Starspeeder, a young Padawan who is starting school at the Jedi Academy. His sister, Christina, already attends the school and she's not exactly thrilled that her younger brother will be following in her footsteps.

Victor isn't your typical candidate for the Jedi Academy. He has a lot of energy... and I mean a lot of energy. Yoda recognizes that Victor has potential to be a good Jedi, but he also has some anger issues. To help Victor control his issues, he encourages him to join the drama club. Victor is less than thrilled!

Victor quickly learns that the rigorous Jedi work is not easy and he's going to have to apply himself. He also learns that not everyone who seems nice is actually nice. With the help of his sister and his new friends, he works extra hard to learn the force and be the best young Jedi he can be!

A NEW CLASS was definitely a cute book. I thought the illustrations were adorable (think Lunch Lady!) and they seemed to fit well with the story. I also just liked the general tone of the book. Victor was a great character who wanted to be a good Jedi, but he was also a boy who managed to get himself into some sticky situations. I thought he was extremely funny.

The other characters in A NEW CLASS were great too. The Droids were funny and there were other characters that readers will recognize. Of course, I adored Yoda -- who better to be an instructor at the Jedi Academy. His wisdom definitely shined through, and I thought his backwards way of expressing himself was hilarious.

I loved seeing Victor mature and learn how to use the Force, but I also loved the life lessons that he learned in his first year at the academy. He discovered that not everything is as it seems and that you can find good friends in unlikely places. I think kids will be able to relate to Victor's challenges with starting a new school, taking difficult classes, and making new friends.

Overall, STAR WARS JEDI ACADEMY A NEW CLASS is a very fun graphic novel for kids. I highly recommend it to reluctant readers and fans of Star Wars!

Thanks to the publisher and Big Honcho Media for providing the tee-shirt and review copy of this book.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!