Jedi

I Want To Be A Jedi (DK READERS)
$3.99
I purchased this book for my grandson's 7th birthday. He took the book to read immediately and was reading it over and over. He liked that the book had the pronounciation of the names of the "Star Wars" characters and he shared that infomation with his older sisters. The cover and the title appeals to his age and interests. He loved that he could read it himself.

Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters
$16.95
My children and I are huge Star Wars fans. I saw this title by Dick Staub recently on Amazon, and had to get it. Who can resist the parallels between the the world of George Lucas and Christianity, right?

Mr. Staub parallels the Christian walk to many of the truths brought out in the works of George Lucas, answering the questions, "Where are the Jedi Master type of Christians today? And how do I become one?"

One of the biggest truths I got from the book is mentoring. One does not become a Jedi alone, but by being taken as a padawan (apprentice) of a Jedi Master. In today's Christianity, I see very little of this mentoring. It seems (unfortunately) the younger generation throws out a lot of the older generation's input under the "not relevant" tag, forgetting how much wisdom can be attained from their guidance.

I enjoyed the writing style which was pretty down to earth, relating a great deal to today's culture by pulling parallels to the truths with pop culture.

If you're a friend, you can borrow my copy. If not, go get a copy.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
$19.99
This was a great game and was in great shape when I got it just like new

Star Wars Star Wars Science - Force Trainer
$129.99
We were very excited to receive The Force Trainer as a gift. I'm all for bio-feedback and have paid for EEG therapy for our son who has ADD. Unfortunately, it does not work as advertised and appears to fit in the catagory of "you see what you want to see." Five family members (adults and children) used the product and had the same result: no matter what your state of mind, the trainer advances you through the first "Padwan" level automatically. Each phrase and ball movement is identical from person to person. It seems all it takes is a live person to make the ball move up and down.
The "Jedi Knight" and "Jedi Master" levels were similar: the ball and voice seemed to proceed in either a pre-programmed or a random pattern. There is no way to tell whether your brain waves are affecting the ball's movement or whether it is a programmed random change in the fan speed. You should be able to check this with the "free play mode" where ball movement and light indicators are supposed to reflect your brain wave patterns. However, in our unit the ball stayed in the middle position no matter how hard we "concentrated" or "used our feelings." The lights only blinked on and off in a regular pattern.
One other minor point: while it was cute at first to hear Yoda quote lines from the movies, he grew tiresome after the fifth time he quoted the same line, "Reach out with your feelings! Use the Force. Do or do not, there is no try."
All in all we were VERY disappointed in this item. And would highly caution everyone to stay away from it. It is overpriced at best and intentionally deceptive to children at worst. My son was so proud to achieve Padwan, I didn't have the heart to tell him it worked the same for everyone. They all got frustrated and quit at the Jedi Knight level as no amount of concentration or relaxation could move the ball in a predictable way.
The Trainer must measure some sort of brain activity or skin conductivity, however, it does not work as advertised. I do not see how the manufacturer will avoid some kind of consequence for putting this out with the claims it makes. I suppose they can say, "Not everyone is cut out to be a Jedi."
I am sure some will use the toy and see exactly what they want to see. They will thrill to hear Yoda and R2D2 verbally pat them on the back. If this item sells, as it surely must with the slick marketing and idea that "you too can be a Jedi Knight", I believe it has more to do with P.T. Barnum ("There's a sucker born every minute") than The Force.