A young boy named Roan Novachez living on Tatooine is disappointed to learn that he has been rejected by Pilot Academy, but is soon invited to attend Jedi academy at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. There, he learns that he possesses an innate talent for the use of the Force and that he will learn to harness it under some of the Jedi's greatest masters, including the wise and powerful Yoda and the talented lightsaber expert Mr. Garfield. Roan settles into the life of a typical schoolboy, from struggling through homework, learning to make new friends in an unfamiliar situation, and catching up with a class that has been studying for years things which are entirely new to him. Along the way, he finds friends including Pasha and Gaiana, but must deal with bullies such as Cyrus and Cronah. A diligent student, he earns good grades in many of his classes, but begins to worry that he will never be able to tap into his talent to use the Force.
New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Jeffrey Brown takes readers to a middle school in a galaxy far, far away...
This incredible, original story captures all of the humor, awkwardness, fun, and frustrations of middle school--all told through one boy's comics, journal entries, letters, doodles, and newspaper clippings. The setting? A galaxy far, far away...
Roan's one dream is to leave home and attend Pilot Academy like his older brother, father, and grandfather. But just as Roan is mysteriously denied entrance to Pilot School, he is invited to attend Jedi Academy--a school that he didn't apply to and only recruits children when they are just a few years old. That is, until now...
This inventive novel follows Roan's first year at Jedi Academy where, under the tutelage of Master Yoda, he learns that he possesses more strength and potential than he could have ever dreamed. Oh, and he learns other important things too--like how to make a baking soda volcano, fence with a lightsaber, slow dance with a girl, and lift boulders with the Force.
In 196 BBY on the planet Tatooine a young boy named Roan Novachez had just finished primary school and hoped to join the Pilot Academy. His mother showed him a holomessage from his father. But the R5-series astromech droid that the message was playing on malfunctioned.
As they arrived back to their house Roan asked if he had received a letter from the Pilot Academy. His mother told him that they had not and told him to complete his chores in the garden. Roan did not like doing garden work and hoped to not have to go to the Tatooine Agricultural Academy.
After completing his chores, Roan was with his friends, Reg, Jax, and Adam. Reg and Jax announced that they had gotten into the Pilot Academy and asked Roan if he had. But had not received his acceptance letter and began to worry if he ever would. But Roan did get a letter from the Pilot Academy. The academy denied his admission and recommended he join the agricultural academy.
After dealing with the fact of being rejected from the academy, Roan offered to help in the garden, to get ready for plant school. But even though he planted the H'Kak beans, they still died. Roan realized he was doomed if he couldn't handle plant school.
But then Roan received a letter of acceptance from the Coruscant Jedi Academy. Roan's application to the Pilot Academy had gained the attention of Jedi Master Yoda who invited him to attend the new school year. Roan was relieved to be going to Jedi Academy even if he did not know a lot about the Jedi Order. His mother sent the paperwork and he prepared to leave the following week.
On the day of departure, Roan packed his belongings until his mother reminded him to pack his clothes. They quickly packed up and drove off to the transport. He said his goodbyes to his mother and his brother Oliver Novachez and took off to the Jedi academy.
Roan arrived at the Coruscant Jedi Academy, not knowing where he was. Pasha, who was a Jedi padawan, introduced himself as more Jedi came over to greet Roan. Bill also came over to greet Roan with RW-22. But not all of the young Jedi took a liking to Roan. Cronah bumped into Roan and told him to watch it. Roan introduced himself to Cronah and his friends, Cyrus and Jo-Ahn. Cronah believed that Roan had skipped his Jedi training but Roan tried to tell them that he wanted to be a pilot. They warned Roan about seeing himself as more special then him and stormed off.
Tegan told him who they were and introduced herself along with Gaiana. Roan told them that he was from Tatooine but the Jedi had never heard of the planet before. They brought Roan to his dorm and wondered how powerful he was. When they reached his dorm, he asked how he would get his luggage up to its compartment. Pasha used the Force to do so which shocked Roan. Roan the ran into Master Yoda who did not look like Roan expected. Roan also could not understand Yoda and was terribly confused. Roan then journeyed off to his first class but the hallways were nearly empty. He believed that he would be the first to class but when he got there everyone else was already there and Roan realized he had his watch set to Tatooine time.
Roan didn't believe he fit in with the other Jedi at the academy. Although most of the students were nice, he had trouble studying with the force. Although he enjoyed the lightsaber training, it was taught by Mr. Garfield who didn't like Roan.
At lunch, Roan asked to sit with Jo-Ahn and Cyrus but Cyrus tricked Roan and told him to sit on the floor. Later on, Roan was trying to open up his locker. After many failed attempts, he decided to take all of his books to his classes. Bill questioned Roan on why he brought everything to class but Roan lied and told him that he was being prepared.
One day, Roan thought he finally sensed the Force and started to feel light-headed. He was talking nonsense and then passed out. Roan then found himself in a bacta tank and the medical droid reported to him that he had passed out from a lack off food and sleep. Roan was still having trouble finding his way around the academy and regularly followed behind his fellow classmates to their classes. The previous weekend, Roan was alone writing a comic when all of the sudden, he lifted his pencil with the force.
Roan and the other students were playing soccer one day, when all of the sudden Roan stopped the soccer ball from going in accidentally with the Force. The other students tried to figure out who did it but Roan kept quite. Back in class with Yoda, the group was instructed to lift glasses of water from tables to desk. When Roan went up, he got the water all over him, causing the class to laugh. But Pasha also got all wet when he attempted and they both smiled together. Shortly after, Cyrus ask Roan to help him open his locker. Roan agreed to and opened it. But then Cronah came by and was angry that Roan had opened his locker as Cyrus snickered at him.
Seven weeks into his time a the academy, Roan and the other students took a field trip to the planet Kashyyyk, to study the culture and technologies located there. When they first got to Kashyyyk, they watched the Wookiee council in action which Roan and his fellow students found to be very boring.
Roan shocked to see a tree for the first time and his favorite part was the camping. When they were walking to the campsite, Roan accidentally hit Gaiana in the face with a plant, causing her to get made at him and refuse to speak with him for the rest of the trip. When they returned from exploring the forest, the groups realized that Pasha had not returned. They split up into search teams to go look for him.
Bill and Egon Reich joined Roan on the search. Roan used the location the sun to keep direction. They eventually located Pasha who hurt his ankle and was laying by a tree. When they were sitting by the campfire, Egon told the group the story of the Ghost Wookiee. He told them that the Ghost Wookiee was the spirit of an angry Wookiee who crush travelers in its arms. But as Egon told the story, one of their teachers Kitmum came up behind him, causing the students to freak out and quickly run away.
After the field trip, the students came back and were ready to make their lightsabers. Each student was able to get their lightsaber to work, besides Silva whose lightsaber activated the wrong way and cut the table, causing Cronah to ask to switch partners.
Sometime after, Roan attended a meeting to discuss the next issue of The Padawan Observer newspaper. While the students were assigned tasks, Roan offered to draw a comic for the newspaper. He showed Tegan the Ewok Pilot comic he had been working, which the Twi'lek Jedi loved. Roan was then employed to make the comics for the newspaper.
The week came to begin working on the science fair projects. While many of the students projects were force based, Roan decided to make a baking soda volcano. Taking inspiration from the volcanic planet Mustafar, Roan built his project with the help of Pasha.
During the day of the science fair, Principle Mar and Yoda came up to observe Roan's project. But when Roan poured the baking soda in the volcano nothing happened. Roan kept adding more until the volcano fizzed and exploded, sending Yoda, Mar, and Roan flying. Roan was covered in the remains of his project as the other students laughed at him. Yoda laughed off the experience and Pasha came over to help Roan clean up.
Back at another meeting for The Padawan Observer, the group was deliberating on how to handle the coverage of the upcoming student council elections. Ronald Rinzler offered to handle it but was denied because he was running for president. Shi-Fara was instead put in charge. But Bill, who was running against Ronald asked Roan to make posters for him. Ronald also asked Roan to make posters. Posters were hung up all over the Jedi academy for the candidates.
On the day of the elections, Bill went and gave his speech. He stumbled through his speech and received light applause. But Ronald's speech got the most praise and the most applause. Roan complimented Ronald which angered Bill, who told Roan to vote for his opponent.
Roan was revealed that the workload was off his shoulders following the conclusion of the elections. Although he enjoyed making the posters, they were all over the school. Bill refused to hang out with Roan after the elections, feeling betrayed by him for making posters for Ronald. Shortly after, Pasha showed Roan tricks he could make his paper airplane do. But Roan managed to do more complicated tricks using the Force.
After days of counting the student council ballots a winner was declared. Even though Roan voted for Bill, Ronald won the election. Bill was still mad at Roan, making Roan regretting making posters for Ronald.
Physical Education teacher, Kitmum put the students through a ropes challenge. While many of the students were able to easily complete the challenge, Roan got stuck at the top and looked for help to get down.
At the student council meeting, Ronald and the council were tasked with coming up with the theme for the upcoming school dance. After some deliberation, they decided on a lightsaber themed dance. Roan was voted to make posters for it.
Shortly after, Roan was walking in the hallway when he witness a situation between Cyrus, Cronah, and Silva. Cronah used Silva's horns to open his drink and started to make goat calls. This angered Silva but Tegan and Gaiana came to help him. Roan confronted the bullies but was soon made the butt of a joke himself when they turned his name into a song.
Throughout the week, Roan spent a lot of time working on posters for the dance. He was proud of his work and wondered if this could be his career if he couldn't be a Jedi. One time, Cyrus had Roan and three other students line up and did a flip over all of them. After making the posters, Roan, Giana, Mary, and Carter went out to get pizza. They stayed up late and Roan was almost late to class the next day.
At the dance, Roan apologized to Bill for the election, but Bill didn't mind because now he was a DJ. The music started and everyone began to dance. Pasha offered to dance with Roan but Roan didn't know how to dance and walked away. But Gaiana went over to Roan and offered to teach him how to. Cyrus and Cronah laughed at him but Roan had a good time dancing. Then, DJ Bill announced it was time for the slow dance to begin and Roan accepted to slow dance with Gaiana. Although Roan had trouble at first, the two slow danced until the dance finished. Roan went home with a smile.
The midterm tests for the year were soon and Roan was nervous. He was still have difficulty using the Force and Yoda's help did not make sense to him. Cyrus tricked him into believing he was lifting a book but Cyrus was actually lifting the book himself. While sitting with friends, Roan asked if they had ever kissed a girl before. They all claimed they had done so but gave in and had never actually done it. Roan continued to practice for his midterm tests but using the Force was still very difficult.
The midterm test for the Force came around. While many of the Jedi students were able to move the books, Roan was only able to flip one page. Roan failed the midterm test and was given a "D+" for the class. After class, he and other students compared their grades. The students were proud when he said he got "A's" and "B's" but when he told them about the "D+" they helped and told him that he would get better.
Roan then headed back to his transport and flew back to Tatooine. When he got to Tatooine he was greeted by Ollie and his mother, who was happy to have Roan back to complete chores. The spring break felt boring to Roan, who enjoyed his time at the academy. His brother Davin Novachez and his father had returned home from the Pilot Academy but Roan had trouble spending time with them as he didn't understand their conversations about being pilots. One day he was talking to Adam when his friends Jax and Reg stopped by frm the Pilot Academy. They asked Roan about his time at the academy and thought that his friends were weird. They then told them that they recently tried out the new J-47 starfighter they tested out. Roan was jealous and told Adam that he made a lightsaber when Reg and Jax left. But Adam didn't know what a lightsaber was.
Roan arrived back at the Coruscant Jedi Academy, where he ran into Gaiana who gave him a hug. She asked him how his spring break went but Roan was too embarrassed to say anything until Pasha came to greet him. Roan was happy to be back at the Jedi academy to see his friends. Pasha asked Roan if he was attempting to run into Gaiana on purpose because he was always near her dorm. Roan admitted to liking Gaiana but he didn't know if she felt the same feelings towards him.
Roan joined Pasha and Egon in training for the Lightsaber Fencing Tournament. But he believed that no one knew what to do for the tournament. Roan was worried about going back to "Using the Force 101" class with Yoda after he nearly failed last semester. Although Yoda encouraged him, he still worried that he was not cut out to be a Jedi.
One day, the introduced the class to a new protocol droid T-P3O. T-P3O introduced himself and then began a long speech. But the speech was very long and the class fell asleep during it. At Physical Education, the students were waiting by the swimming pool for Kitmum. Cronah made fun of Roan's swim trunks.But had enough of Cronah and thanked, causing Cronah to storm off. All of the sudden, Kitmum charged in and scared everyone into the swimming pool.
One day, Roan went inside the dorm and did a flip. But in doing so accidentally activated his lightsaber and chopped off part of the couch. His friends made him sit on the cut off part until it was fixed. But Yoda saw Roan do it but tried to cheer him up afterwards. Mr. Garfield was the substitute teacher for history which no one liked. He was very strict and not many of the students liked him. One time during class, he caught Cyrus and Cronah laughing over a picture they drew of him. When he asked who did it, they blamed Roan.
The day of the Lightsaber Fencing Tournament tryouts had arrived and it was Roan's turn to go. Roan had to do the 100 yard dash with his lightsaber along with, jumping, cardio, lightsaber accuracy, acrobatics, deflecting lasers, and spinning. After he finished, Roan was all sweaty and joked that he deserved a bonus for it.
After the tryout, Pasha, Egon, and Roan purchased a Marksman-H combat remote droid to keep practicing. But they lent the droid to Cyrus who promised to give it back but Pasha had to find it, where it was broken. One day at lunch, Cronah went to Roan and told Roan to let him see his cookie. But Roan refused, making Cronah angry. Roan then licked the cookie and handed it to Cronah, who walked away disgusted.
During Pilton's class, she had difficulty using RW-22 to play her slideshow. Roan and Pasha were able to get RW-22 to work but the slideshow was upside down and Pilton told their they would be doing handstands for the lecture. During a game of dodgeball, Roan managed to get Cronah out even though his team lost.
Shortly after, Yoda released a holomail with the students who had qualified for the Lightsaber Fencing Tournament. Roan qualified for the tournament and Pasha and Cyrus were picked as captains for their teams. Roan was very happy to have qualified and was picked first by Pasha for the team. Pasha's team was "Squad A" and consisted of him, Roan, Gaiana, Tegan, and Roan. Cyrus's tema was "Squad B" and consisted of him, Cronah, Cronah, Shi-Fara, and Greer. During class, Roan caught Ronald looking at his test but Ronald blamed him.
Pasha and Roan continued to practice for the tournament. One day when they were practicing, Cyrus and Cronah came by. Cronah boasted about beating Roan and activated his lightsaber to show off his moves. But their training droid opened fire at Cronah when he activated his lightsaber and zapped Cronah in the behind.
At class, Silva asked Roan if he was nervous about the tournament. Roan wasn't nervous but Silva definitely was. Later on, Roan was walking with Pasha and Gaiana when Pasha also asked if he was nervous. They warned him that the tournament is very intense. It was where heroes were made and losing it could send you to plant school. This worried ROan who didn't want to go to plant school.
The day of the Lightsaber Fencing Tournament arrived and the pamphlet was released of the duels. Principle Mar introduced everyone and set out the rules. First was an exhibition duel between Yoda and Mr. Garfield. Yoda flipped over Garfield and disarmed him, quickly winning the duel.
Next was Gaiana versus Greer. Gaiana overpowered Greer quickly and won the duel. It was now Roan's turn as he squared up against Jo-Ahn. Roan made the first attack which Jo-Ahn dodged, Jo-Ahn then slashed at Roan and wont the duel. Egon and Shi-Fara were up next. But Egon quickly maneuvered past Shi-Fara anf won the duel. The penultimate duel was between Tegan and Cronah. Tegan was able to block Cronah's first few attacked but was overpowered and lost. Cronah proceeded to celebrate the win.
The last duel was between the team captains, Cyrus and Pasha. Pasha made the first attack, leaping up and clashing with Cyrus. Cyrus managed to move around and strike at Pasha. Cyrus then turned the tables, and came at Pasha. He leaped up but Pasha managed to block the blow. But right when Cyrus was about to deliver the final hit, Roan called out and accidentally deactivated Cyrus's lightsaber with the Force. Cyrus claimed that there was cheating and the instructors agreed to disqualify Pasha, giving Squad B the win. Roan worried that everyone would be mad at him and planned to stay hidden from everyone for the rest of the year.
One day, Roan was in his dorm when someone knocked on the door. When Roan heard Gaiana's voice, he hid underneath his blanket until she left. Once she left, he left his dorm and journeyed out. But then he heard Pasha and Bill. Believing that Pasha was mad at him, Roan went over to his locker but accidentally locked himself inside it. After awhile, Yoda came by and rescued an embarrassed Roan.
For the final exam, the students had to lift at least one large boulder with the Force. But Roan still had trouble using the Force and was very worried that he would fail and get sent to plant school. Silva went first and made the stone roll over. Ronald lifted the stone but very little. When Cronah went, he used a lot of energy and asked to finish. Gaiana was able to easily lift the rock but when Bill went he used a mind trick to make a droid lift the stone for him. Pasha and Cyrus went and they lifted the stone with ease. Now Roan was next. Roan tried to get the stone to lift but it wouldn't move. But Roan then relaxed his mind and focused. His classmates looked up in awe and Roan wonder what was going on. Pasha told him to look behind and all of the stones were being lifted up. Everyone was happy for Roan and Yoda congratulated him. The Jedi Master asked Roan if he would come back for another year and Roan agreed to.
Shortly after, Roan and Pasha were sitting and Roan asked if Pasha was mad at him for deactivating his lightsaber. But Pasha was not mad and told him that teamwork was the most important part. Pasha then mocked the face that Cyrus made and the two friends all laughed very hard. Shortly after the Jedi Academy Yearbook came out and Roan got the "most creative."
The academy had their goodbye dinner and everyone signed each other's yearbooks. He drew Ewok Pilot in the yearbooks. Roan was going to miss many of the students and teachers. Even Yoda was emotional.
On the final day, Roan said his goodbyes to Tegan when he was met by Cronah. Cronah made a joke about Roan lifting the stones and walked off with his friends. After saying goodbye to Egon and Bill he met with Pasha. Pasha wanted to visit Tatooine over the summer. They then did a fist bump with the Force. He said goodbye to Pasha then Gaiana came up and asked if she would see Roan over the summer. Roan promised to call her as her ship arrived. She gave Roan a hug and then a kiss on the cheek. Roan then blushed and she left. RW-22 and T-3PO then came by and gave Roan all the papers he would need for the summer and next year. Master Yoda then came and told Roan to go to the Dark Side of the Force. But Yoda meant the dark side of Tatooine where there was more shade. Yoda asked him to come back next year and to check out his schedule. On the transport home, Roan took out his schedule and was extremely excited to learn that he would be doing Starfighter Flight training next year.
Roan arrived back home, where he was greeted by his younger brother. His mother came out and was happy to have him back so he could work in the garden. Davin grabbed his bags for him while he dripped with sweat from not being used to the weather. He was then greeted by his father who told him that he was able to get him into the Pilot Academy. But actually wanted to stay at the Coruscant Jedi Academy. When they reached home, Roan's family bombarded him with questions about being a Jedi.
The idea of a heavily illustrated Star Wars title in a middle school setting was first conceived by Scholastic, who approached Lucasfilm Ltd. regarding the idea. Jonathan W. Rinzler suggested Brown as an author for the series and Brown, after a brief initial skepticism, came up with his conception of the series.
- ISBN 9780545505178; August 27, 2013; Scholastic Inc.; US hardcover
- ISBN 9780545609999; 2013; Scholastic Inc.; US paperback, school-market edition
- ISBN 9781407138701; September 2, 2013; Scholastic Inc.; UK hardcover
- ISBN 9781407139517; September 5, 2013; Scholastic Inc.; UK paperback
- ISBN 9781407138718; September 4, 2014; Scholastic Inc.; UK paperback
- Collected in Jedi Academy: Trilogy Box Set