The symbolic lightsaber is passed to Lunch Lady's Krosoczka for this new installment of the Wimpy Kid inspired series that looks at middle school, Jedi-style. Krosoczka's classical cartooning, all soft edges and exaggerated expressions, helps strike an excellent balance between genuine emotion and Star Wars excitement, as young Victor Starspeeder transfers to Jedi Academy and immediately finds himself over his head. Not only has he inadvertently fallen in with the wrong friends, but he can't seem to find the discipline necessary to succeed and honor the memory of his Jedi father. Through comics, journal entries, and mock newspapers and news feeds, Krosoczka conveys with poignant sensitivity Victor's journey to find supportive friends, embrace his snarky but wise older sister, and learn to focus through negative emotions; all this and there's still room for a bang-up lightsaber fight, too. Hardcore Star Wars fans may needle the book good-naturedly for its departures from the canon, but its sensitivity to real social and emotional issues and its sense of fun will make it an enjoyable choice for a cross-sectional readership.

A midterm transfer to the Jedi Academy campus on Coruscant not only supercharges Victor Starspeeder's dreams of becoming a Jedi Knight, but teaches him how to tell bad friends from good.Picking up the authorial reins from Jeffrey Brown, Krosoczka continues the series with a new protagonist and a few venturesome twists. Spurned on arrival by his star-student big sister, Christina, Victor latches on to seemingly friendly Zach, who offers to show him the ropes but turns out to be a bully and a prankster trying to get into Christina's good graces. Meanwhile, though strong in the Force, Victor has both attention and temper issues that lead to several embarrassing mishaps. These earn him forcible enrollment in drama club, which is in rehearsals for My Fair L-8E, a musical tale of human/droid love. Mishaps continue, but, as wise instructor Yoda puts it, "go on, the show must." So it does, to a triumph. Interspersed with prose journal entries, doodles, official documents, and pages from the school newspaper, the monochrome cartoon panels that present most of the episode depict Victor, his sister, and their mom with medium-toned skin (their stepfather's is darker yet) amid faculty and students of diverse franchise species. Typical middle school experiences for young Padawans, featuring crushes, quizzes, and food fights highlighted by a climactic lightsaber duel in the hallway. (Graphic science fiction. 8-12)