FROM AMAZON: At McQuarrie Middle School, the war against the FunTime Menace - aka test prep - wages on. Our heroes have one battle under their belts, and they've even found a surprising ally in Jabba the Puppett. But to defeat the Dark Standardized Testing Forces they're going to need an even bigger, even more surprising ally: Principal Rabbski. But with great forces - aka the school board - pushing her from above, will the gang's former enemy don a finger puppet and join the Rebellion - or will her transformation to Empress Rabbski, Dark Lord of the Sith, be complete?

I loved this, as I have loved the whole series. The focus here was on defeating the evil standardized testing system, and in getting the principal to join the rebellion. But I'm concerned about Dwight, who is getting ever weirder. Why does he keep trying to kiss his elbow? Why won't he say anyone's name? It's not clear whether he needs professional help or is just bored out of his mind. The beginning of the series addresses accepting and coping with differences, and I hope Angleberger explores it more in his next book. ( )

Stooky!!! ( )

This one picked up again after Jabba the Puppett, but I also really thought it was going to be the last one this time! I guess I just need to stop expecting this series to end—Emperor Pickletine is already coming out in a couple months.

In this volume of the series the students organize to get rid of the awful Fun Time series being used at school, which has replaced all of their electives with review videos that are so boring the students couldn't pay attention if they wanted to.

This plot is definitely sending a message and has more of an over arching plot than the other volumes did; although it still is being told through vignettes. It's still a fun series with cool artwork and a variety of heartfelt/silly stories. ( )