The Rising Force (1999)

OK for kids, I guess, but as an adult I found the story and characters far too simplistic. This isn't the case with later spinoff series "Last of the Jedi," which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I suppose it just took a while for the plot and characters to find their bearings.

For a more thorough review, please see http://scififantasyfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/book-review---star-wars-jedi... ( )

(I now maintain a blog just for my kid-lit reviews. Find it at http://kidlit4adults.blogspot.com .)

A friend has convinced me to try my hand this year for the first time at writing children's literature; but I don't actually know anything about children's literature, so am starting the process among other ways by first reading a stack of popular books that have been recommended to me. Today's titles are from yet another long-running series of chapter books for grade-schoolers, the kind of franchise where an endless amount of 30,000-word volumes are cranked out once a month by a series of essentially anonymous authors; and this is actually one of the types of employment I'm hoping to find in the industry myself, which is why I'm reading so many of these types of books these days, to understand more about how exactly they're written.

And indeed, after expecting these to be only middling titles that rely mostly on the strength of the "Star Wars" brand for their commercial success, the three volumes of the "Jedi Apprentice" series I read (volumes 1, 2 and 3) were instead some of the better chapter books I've so far come across this year, with challenging vocabularies and nicely complex moral lessons that have more in common with Zen Buddhism than the Babysitters Club. (But then again, this series is put out by the always excellent Scholastic, so I guess I should've known better.) Although these will only appeal almost exclusively to boys in the 10-to-12 range, they're excellent for what they are, and get the classic "rules" of writing for this age group almost perfect -- for example, they include plenty of periil but very little real-world danger (helped immensely by their fantastical setting), feature plenty of action but a stripped-down non-confusing plot, and also do a nice job for sci-fi novels at exploring both school environments and inter-gender relationships at that age in depth. They're on the large side of such books, a full 30,000 to 35,000 words apiece, and despite their subject matter are not recommended for so-called "reluctant readers." ( )

Star Wars Jedi Apprentice The Rising Force is about Obi-wan Kenobi as a young boy. Although Obi-wan is a good student at the Jedi temple his anger is a problem. Time after time Obi-wan has been passed over when Jedi Knights come to choose their Padawan students. His 13th birthday is approaching, if Obi-wan isn't chosen by that day he must abandon his dreams of being a Jedi and leave the temple.

Qui-Gon is coming to watch the students but he has told Yoda that he will not choose a student. Something happened with his last apprentice and Qui-Gon is worried and betrayed.

Qui-Gon does not choose Obi-wan (what? I was sure he would) and Obi-Wan is sent away from the temple to be an agricultural worker on a mining planet. On board the mining ship, Obi-wan stumbles into a tense situation and struggles to save lives and win Qui-Gon's respect.

A 7 year old hovers at my elbow waiting for me to hand over this book.

Peace over Anger
Honor over Hate
Strength over Fear

Twelve-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi desperately wants to be a Jedi Knight. After years at the Jedi Temple, he knows the power of the Lightsaber and the Force. But he cannot control his own anger and fear. Because of this, the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn will not take him on as a Padawan apprentice.
Now Obi-Wan is about to have his first encounter with true evil. He must face off against unexpected enemies—and face up to his own dark wishes.
Only then can his education as a Jedi truly begin. ( )