SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

May 30, 2013 by Mike Pawuk

Review: Star Wars: Vader’s Little Princess

May 30, 2013 by Mike Pawuk   Leave a Comment

Vader’s Little Princess
Written and Illustrated by Jeffrey Brown
Chronicle Books, $14.95

Following on the heels of the immensely popular 2012 book Darth Vader & Son—which humorously looked at “What if Darth Vader took an active role in raising his son?”—creator Jeffrey Brown now focuses on the trials and tribulations of raising Princess Leia from a sweet little girl to those rebellious teenage years in Vader’s Little Princess.

Just like Darth Vader & Son, the follow-up features one-page vignettes of Darth Vader acting as a normal parent interplayed with situations ranging from awkwardness to the sincere with familiar scenes and quotes from a galaxy “far, far away.” Creator Jeffrey Brown, known in the comic book world as the creator of the adult autobiographical books Clumsy and Unlikely, is a perfect choice. His autobiographical books have shown the humor and pathos of everyday life, and showing similar situations in world of Star Wars is refreshing and just plain fun. Like Darth Vader and Son, there’s a lot of love that Brown puts into the book. A Star Wars fan from his youth, Brown exposes a lot of simple truths of parenting even if you are a Sith Lord. The joys, frustrations, and awkward moments are all played out with a lot of truth, and adding the Dark Lord of the Sith being the parent is just a delightful twist.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Right from the get-go, we see Vader being put in his place by a pint-sized Leia telling him “From now on you do as I tell you, okay?” and the stage is set for the rest of the book. When Vader is about to Force choke one of his Admirals, little Leia gives him a hug out of adoration; you see Vader teaching teenage Leia how to drive (a TIE Fighter); Darth Vader drives an AT-AT to drop off an embarrassed Leia at school; Leia tells Vader right after Han Solo was frozen in carbonite “You are so mean! All he did was kiss me!”

Most of the humor is focused on the problems with raising a feisty teenager, and Leia is the perfect teenager to do just that. As a teenager she led the Rebel Alliance against the Empire, and having us see how Vader react to scenes of traditional teenage problems is pure gold. Though we do see a young Leia in the book in a few gags, the focus is mostly on the teenage years as opposed to Vader and Son, which featured Luke as a young boy.

It’s a delight to see the Dark Lord of the Sith dealing with a feisty teenager, and parents and kids will immensely enjoy this book for Father’s Day and every day of the year.

Filed under: All Ages

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
All AgesJeffrey BrownreviewStar Wars

About Mike Pawuk

Mike Pawuk has been a teen services public librarian for the Cuyahoga County Public Library for over 15 years. A lifelong fan of comic books and graphic novels, he was chair for the 2002 YALSA all-day preconference on graphic novels, served as a judge for the Will Eisner Awards in 2009, as well as helped to create the Great Graphic Novels for Teens selection committee for YALSA. He is the author of Graphic Novels: A Genre Guide to Comic Books, Manga, and More, and co-author of the follow-up book Graphic Book II both published by Libraries Unlimited/ABC-CLIO Publishing.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

It's Jeff! | This Week’s Comics

by Mike Pawuk

March 2023

Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table | This Week’s Comics

by Mike Pawuk

March 2023

More 'Smurfs Tales' Coming from Papercutz | News

by Mike Pawuk

March 2023

Azuki Manga | Interview

by Mike Pawuk

March 2023

Hoops | This Week’s Comics

by Mike Pawuk

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

U.S. Gov: ‘All Books Must Have Round Corners’

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Write What You Know. Read What You Don’t, a guest post by Lauren Thoman

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

First-Person Graphic Memoirs Bring Events to Life for Students

A Woman’s Place Is in a Graphic Novel: Outstanding Works for Young Readers Center Women in History

Free Comics, and Resources on COVID-19, in Graphic Form

Top 10 Manga of 2020

Top 10 Manga of 2021

Commenting for all posts is disabled after 30 days.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023