Darth Paper Strikes Back

The story is presented as a case file assembled by Tommy, a seventh-grader at McQuarrie Middle School, with chapters contributed by various classmates and punctuated by comments from Harvey, the story's antagonist.

On the first day of seventh grade, Tommy and his friends, including Sara, Kellen, Lance, Amy, and Rhondella, are enjoying a hopeful morning in the school library when Harvey appears with Darth Paper, an origami Darth Vader finger puppet made from black paper. In sixth grade, their eccentric classmate Dwight Tharp created Origami Yoda, a finger puppet that dispensed surprisingly wise advice and helped students with problems ranging from bullying to social anxiety. Harvey has always insisted Origami Yoda is a fraud and now wields Darth Paper as a rival. When the girls call Darth Paper "cute," Harvey storms off, quoting Darth Vader.

By October, the situation has deteriorated. Harvey uses Darth Paper to sabotage and antagonize Dwight, while Origami Yoda counters each move. The turning point comes when Jen, a popular girl and Star Wars fan, approaches Origami Yoda at lunch for advice about cheerleading tryouts. Dwight, in an unusually convincing Yoda voice, warns her: "Zero Hour comes. Prepare to meet your Doom." Jen leaves upset and reports the comment to Principal Rabbski. Dwight is placed in suspension and sent home. Rabbski files a request with the school board to transfer Dwight to CREF, the Correctional and Remedial Education Facility, a school for severely misbehaving students, citing a "history of violent behavior," a zero-tolerance policy violation, and Dwight's "frequent use of a finger puppet."

Before Dwight leaves, Tommy and Kellen catch him outside the principal's office. Origami Yoda tells them they must compile a new case file to present to the school board at an upcoming meeting. Tommy suspects Harvey was the second student who reported Dwight and begins collecting testimonies to prove Dwight and Origami Yoda are positive influences at school.

The case file contains several stories. Kellen describes how Origami Yoda advised him to teach a younger child who heckled skaters at a local park to skateboard, transforming their antagonistic relationship. Sara recounts how Dwight, paired with Harvey as a lab partner in biology, patiently caught a rare hummingbird hawk moth that Harvey insisted he would never find. Their classmate Mike tells how Origami Yoda directed students to a teacher who knew pencil-flicking games after the school library banned computer games. Lance explains how Origami Yoda's puzzling advice to take home economics instead of model rocketry led him to reconnect with Amy as her class partner. Caroline, who has a severe hearing impairment and transferred to the private Tippett Academy, writes about how Origami Yoda helped her stop classmates from overwhelming her with unwanted special treatment. Fellow classmate Quavondo describes how Origami Yoda inspired him to ask people to donate directly to the school instead of buying overpriced fund-raiser popcorn, raising far more money. Cassie, a drama club member, recounts how Origami Yoda resolved a situation in the school play when a cast member's clothes smelled terrible because her family lacked a washer and dryer; Origami Yoda's solution was to start dress rehearsals early so everyone wore musty costumes and no one stood out.

Tommy also documents the disasters that unfold in Dwight's absence. Lance spoils the ending of Holes, causing a fight with Amy. Tommy buys Sara a graphic novel, Robot Dreams, for her birthday, but a boy called Tater Tot upstages him with a novelty teddy bear, and Sara goes on a date with Tater Tot. Kellen makes a campaign poster for Rhondella's student council race depicting her as Princess Leia, which infuriates Rhondella and contributes to her election loss.

Harvey steals the case file, reads it, and writes a counter-letter reframing every positive story as evidence that Dwight disrupts the learning environment. His letter admits he encouraged Jen to report Dwight's comment to Rabbski. He announces he will attend the school board meeting to read his counterarguments. Tommy, enraged, shouts at Harvey in the library and receives his first in-school suspension.

Desperate, Tommy visits Dwight's house. Dwight's mother has confiscated Origami Yoda, his computer, and phone, and Dwight appears depressed in a nearly empty bedroom. Dwight makes an emergency Yoda from a scrap of green paper, and the puppet tells Tommy to forgive Harvey, adding, "Difficult it is to be right when no one believes you" (122). Dwight's mother catches him with the new puppet, confiscates it, and asks Tommy to leave.

On the day of the meeting, Dwight sends a letter to the lunch table via Sara, insisting Harvey read it aloud. The letter states that Harvey is right: Origami Yoda is just paper, there is no Force (the supernatural power from Star Wars that Origami Yoda supposedly channels), and Dwight was just talking. He gives Origami Yoda to Tommy as a keepsake. Harvey celebrates, and Tommy is devastated. In the hallway, Tommy points Origami Yoda at Rabbski and quotes Star Wars. She pulls him into her office and lectures him that students like Dwight distract from standardized testing, urging Tommy to abandon his efforts.

At the school board meeting that evening, Tommy speaks during public comment, summarizing the case file in five minutes, but senses the board is not truly listening. Harvey then takes the podium and, instead of reading his counterarguments, delivers a surprising defense of Dwight. He reads a text from Jen confirming that she had neglected a book report, received a zero, and was kicked off the cheerleading squad. Dwight's warning about "Zero Hour" and "Doom" was his attempt to urge her to study, not a threat.

Dwight's mother, Mrs. Tharp, intervenes when Rabbski refuses to withdraw the CREF referral. She delivers an impassioned speech about how Dwight has been trying to make friends and help people, and that the school punishes him for his difficulties instead of supporting him. She declares she will not send Dwight back to McQuarrie, insults the board, and storms out with her son.

Walking home afterward, Harvey reveals to Tommy that Darth Paper's true goal was never to get Dwight expelled but to force Dwight to admit Origami Yoda was fake. Harvey folds back Darth Paper's helmet to reveal a drawn face of Anakin Skywalker, the person Darth Vader was before turning to evil, acknowledging that there was some good in him after all.

The next morning, Dwight emails Tommy, asking him to bring Origami Yoda. Tommy learns the board voted in favor of the CREF referral, but Dwight is cheerful: His mother has decided to enroll him at Tippett Academy, the same school Caroline attends. Dwight takes Origami Yoda back, saying he will need the puppet at his new school, contradicting his letter. When Tommy presses him, Origami Yoda asks, "Heard of a Jedi mind trick you have, hmm?" (157). A Jedi mind trick is a Star Wars technique for deceiving others, and the question implies the confession letter was a deliberate ruse. Tommy realizes the entire chain of events may have been Origami Yoda's plan: not to keep Dwight at McQuarrie, but to push his mother to enroll him at Tippett Academy to be with Caroline.

As Dwight runs inside, Sara appears from her house next door. She tells Tommy that Tater Tot was a jerk when she beat him at miniature golf and that she loved Tommy's birthday gift. She invites Tommy to join her family for brunch. Tommy glances back at Dwight's porch, where Dwight waves with Origami Yoda on his hand. Tommy accepts Sara's invitation, and the story ends on a hopeful note.