We're not finished yet with the Rebel Alliance and their struggle against the FunTime Menace. Dwight (formerly Captain Dwight) and many others abandoned the resistance after Principal Rabbski turned the heat up on anyone threatening to do poorly on the state standards test in retaliation for FunTime's excruciating training videos and the elimination of all extracurricular activities, but the rebels scored a victory at the conclusion of The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett when Mr. Howell and Jabba unexpectedly came through for them at a meeting between their parents and Rabbski. When the parents saw FunTime in action, they switched to support their kids, and FunTime's eradication appeared imminent. Weeks later, however, as Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue! begins, no changes have occurred. Principal Rabbski claims she's speaking to her superiors about student concerns regarding FunTime, but the machinery is moving very slowly, and the weeks are whizzing by to summer vacation. If FunTime isn't scrapped by then, they'll have suffered an entire school year of lame edutainment videos and no creative classes or activities. The administration will have run the clock out on the Rebel Alliance.
But...
...who...
...is...
...Princess Labelmaker?
This case file doesn't open like any that came before. A plethora of sensitive papers documenting the Rebel Alliance's clash with Principal Rabbski—anecdotes, doodles, protest logistics, daily news—have been organized and covertly delivered to the principal's office by an anonymous someone calling themselves Princess Labelmaker. Every snarky or angry comment made behind Rabbski's back, every time kids broke the rules casually or blatantly, every misadventure in the ranks as they figured out how to effectively defy the school, is contained in those pages. The principal isn't the enemy, Princess Labelmaker insists she believes, and if Rabbski reads the case file with an open mind, she'll see the kids aren't her enemy. They're suffering from FunTime's mind-numbing program and the lack of extracurriculars. Talented writers, artists, origami folders, actors, singers, and academic standouts, they used to like school for the fun, challenging options presented. Now they dread school, but have the tenacity to try and set things right even when the adults in charge don't understand their desire to eliminate FunTime, responding to their sincere protest with nothing but threats. If Principal Rabbski is fair-minded, Princess Labelmaker pleads, she'll see that Origami Yoda and the kids under his command want what's best for the school. She's their last best hope.
Most of this book is the case file, as usual, but each piece starts with a short introduction by Princess Labelmaker. We see the Rebel Alliance expand as other students tire of FunTime, then shrink at Rabbski's warning of dire consequences for children who "disrupt the learning environment." Even the core members have trouble maintaining a disciplined approach, and of course Harvey injects his sarcastic opinion whether it's needed or not. There are tense scenes in Principal Rabbski's office as she negotiates with Origami Yoda's anti-FunTime crew, though none that boil the blood quite like in The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett. As in Darth Paper Strikes Back, the final showdown is at a school board meeting, but with a surprise guest who's prepared to defend FunTime, a guy with way more experience debating educational values than anyone in the Rebel Alliance. Dwight, Tommy, Sara, Kellen, Lance, Harvey, and the rest have determination and the Force on their side, as well as a new ally who might be as effective as Jabba the Puppett during the rebellion's other most pivotal moment. The fate of the school year depends on a coalition of smart, artistic seventh-graders taking down a smooth-talking company representative who cares little about their future. Is this the Alliance's last stand?
"To win, one must be strong when an opponent is weak".
—Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue!, P. 60
I love the Origami Yoda series. It's chockfull of special moments that would receive exclamation marks if I were annotating the narrative like a chess match. The best of them in Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue! come at the school board meeting, times when I felt like standing up and cheering out loud. It's tough to get readers that emotionally invested, but Tom Angleberger is a master of it. I'd go through the anxious buildup again just for those liberating scenes at the meeting, when a group of adults who wield immense power over the lives of children but aren't close enough to any actual kids to properly use it are put in their place by people who do care, stepping up to prove it as the rebellion starts to crumble. What made me realize this book is a keeper was Origami Yoda's insight that conflict between kids and adults usually happens because we misunderstand each other. Kids think adults are tyrants who want to turn them into miniature grownups, making frivolous rules to punish them for being young. Adults believe kids have a bad attitude and just want to grumble, not appreciating how hard it is to be in charge. How do we bridge that divide so adults listen to the legitimate concerns of kids, and we in return try not to complain without good reason? By showing adults we're intelligent, considerate, and our attitudes are positive overall. That's what Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue! is about, trusting a grownup to peek into the world of kids and recognize that they're doing a lot right in their protest of FunTime. They're not objecting to cause trouble; they're standing up for ideas they feel strongly about, while creatively expressing themselves, developing responsibility, and forming closer friendships. It takes first-class children's stories to show adults who've forgotten how it feels to be a kid that many young people have good intentions, and should be provided outlet for their creativity and passion for learning. Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue! is the kind of story that proves to adults the merits of children's literature, drawing young and old into a meeting of the minds that could head off the need for rebellions like the one in this book. Yet a hardhearted grownup won't be moved by the best juvenile stories. It takes a sympathetic person in charge, humble enough to admit their shortcomings and acknowledge that kids can be right and adults wrong, for change to occur even when the right case file falls across their desk. That's what allows this story's miracle to happen, and reminds us that lost causes are never as lost as we fear. Sometimes all that's required to save them from the brink is one unforeseen agent of change.
"Let fear defeat you not".
—Origami Yoda, Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue!, P. 160
The staples of the Origami Yoda series are all in this book, and we still love them. The comedy is fantastic, and Origami Yoda's advice is as simple and marvelous as ever. Dwight can be a goofball (I use the term affectionately) whose actions are hard to explain, but whether he's the source of Origami Yoda's wisdom or the Force is truly in effect, you'd do well to listen when the Jedi master speaks. In these last two books, his greatest feat has been damage control in the aftermath of heated arguments with school officials. It's difficult to respond rationally when your heart is pounding and you're furious from being treated unfairly, but yelling or insulting only hurts your position. Origami Yoda keeps a calm head when everything is chaotic, and that's why the Alliance has a chance against the FunTime Menace. That serenity under pressure is what I'll remember from this book when I face my own stressful disputes, and the reminder will be invaluable. I rate Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue! at least two and a half stars, maybe three, and by now I don't hesitate to say this is an excellent series. I'm privileged to read it and to know Tom Angleberger personally. Enjoy, fellow Folders.