Star Wars Story Talk: LEGO Star Wars book, The Force Awakens junior novel

Star Wars Story Talk title card 2016-07-07

Star Wars Story Talk (AKA the show formerly known as Unboxing Star Wars) gets in one more episode before Star Wars Celebration Europe! This time, Baby Jawa, Yowie the Skunk, and I try some snacks and review two books: LEGO Star Wars: The Chronicles of the Force, by Adam Bray, David Fentiman, and Cole Horton; and the junior novelization of The Force Awakens by Michael Kogge. Plus a little update on where I’ll be in the coming weeks —Star Wars Celebration Europe and San Diego Comic-Con. Hamburger Helper, Cheez-It crackers, and of course some Baby Jawa fun time!


Quick reviews
LEGO Star Wars: Chronicles of the Force – A fun and fact-filled guide to both Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars in particular. Lots of focus on LEGO minifigures and sets with plenty of call outs about the story of Star Wars. Plus the exclusive Unkar Plutt’s thug minifigure.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens junior novel – Thumbs up! Michael Kogge pens the adaptation of the film for the younger audiences. Quite a few scenes in it that weren’t in the film, and we see a few scenes a bit differently as well. Plus an insert of color photos from the movie.
Cheez-It Star Wars crackers – The cheesy square crackers have Star Wars shapes stamped into them! A Star Wars food tie-in done right.
→ Ultimate Hamburger Helper – Star Wars – Barely a tie-in. The food’s the same. Just an offer for $5 of movie concessions if you submit a photo of a receipt showing the purchase of 3 or more boxes. A Star Wars food tie-in done pretty sad.

Where to see jawajames at Star Wars Celebration Europe:
Find James at SWCE
→ Friday: STEM Heroes and Heroines of Star Wars, 12:00p to 1:00p, Star Wars Fan & Collector’s Stage, with Tricia Barr, Cole Horton, Kevin Beentjes, and Hannah Gillis.
→ Saturday: International Star Wars Fandom, 10:30a to 11:30a, Star Wars Fan & Collector’s Stage, with Mark Newbold (UK), Tim Veekhoven (Belgium), Johanna Nybelius (Sweden), and Kevin Beentjes (Netherlands).

Get more info on Wear Star Wars Every Day or make a donation at GoFundMe or sign up to make a per-day pledge.

Note: DK Publishing provided a copy of LEGO Star Wars: Chronicles of the Force for review.

The Force Awakens, Boyega, Ridley, and DK Star Wars book up for Kids’ Choice Awards

Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know (JTFA)It may be no surprise that The Force Awakens is nabbing a bunch of key nominations for the Nickelodeon 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards, but a Star Wars book has also earned a nomination, competing against both Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. DK’s Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, by Adam Bray, Cole Horton, Michael Kogge, and Kerrie Dougherty, is one of six choices to be voted on in the Favorite Book category. Will it stand up to the likes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Maze Runner? Anyone can vote as much as they want for the Kids’ Choice Awards at nick.com/KCA. Sadly, you can’t skip a category, like Favorite (Music) Collaboration.

In other categories, The Force Awakens has earned nominations for Favorite Movie, Favorite Actor (John Boyega) & Favorite Actress (Daisy Ridley). In the video games category, Disney Infinity 3.0 (which added Star Wars content) is a nominee. The Kids’ Choice Awards will air live on March 12, hosted by Blake Shelton.

Video: Star Wars authors Bray, Horton, Kogge and Castellucci at Mysterious Galaxy


Last Thursday, Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego hosted a quartet of Star Wars authors as they counted down for the Force Friday midnight releases. Representing the first stop on DK’s Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know book release tour were three of its authors: Adam Bray, Cole Horton, and Michael Kogge. Rounding out the team was author Cecil Castellucci, who wrote one of the new young adult books, Moving Target, with Jason Fry. Moderating the panel were Richard and Sarah Woloski of the Skywalking Through Neverland podcast.

Video is of the author panel and Q&A session. Revealed at the end of the evening was the announcement that Michael Kogge is the author of the junior novelization of The Force Awakens, coming out in 2016. And if you just want to see some photos of the event, including the induction of the podcast hosts into Rebel Legion, I’ve got a gallery here.

Looking for signed copies of the books? Mysterious Galaxy has you covered! The Absolutely Everything You Need to Know tour picks up again next weekend around the US.