An enjoyable retelling of Episode IV, The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy is most engaging when Bracken has a little room to fill in the missing moments of the narrative. And as always, it's Luke's story that I find the most compelling. ( )

Read this with R (age 8), the fearful one. One false start but she bought in to the story fully the second time and really enjoyed the story. I thought this was a great intro to a beloved series, for kids who may not be ready for the movies. ( )

A good introduction to the Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Bracken does a very nice translation of "A New Hope" into a well paced YA retelling. By shifting from Leia to Han to Luke, she gives a nice parallax (tri-parallax) of viewpoints. Using the movie and the radio drama as her starting point, this provides a nice entry point to Star Wars to a younger generation. No, no surprises if you know the story, but a good book all the same. ( )

Alexandra Bracken's Star Wars: A New Hope The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy retells the story of A New Hope from the points of view of Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker. The narrative moves chronologically from character to character, with Leia's story focusing on her from the beginning through the destruction of Alderaan. Han's story begins just after Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke's interaction with Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba on Mos Eisley and continues through the escape from the Death Star. Finally, Luke's story begins with the group's arrival on Yavin IV and concludes with the Death Star trench battle.
Bracken ably retells the story and uses the different perspectives to offer more insight into characters, even drawing upon some of the deleted scenes of Luke at Anchorhead to fully establish his character. As this was published in 2015 as part of Disney's build-up to The Force Awakens, it features certain details that were later contradicted. For example, Bracken has Leia contemplate how she got the plans at the beginning and there are, naturally, slight differences between what she wrote and what Rogue One later portrayed. She also has Wedge Antilles say that he was never part of the Imperial forces and joined the Rebellion "to right the wrongs they inflicted on us and the people we love" (pg. 266). Star Wars: Rebels later showed that Wedge did defect from the Imperial flight academy. These are minor issues and only changed due to later content. They do not impact the meaning of Bracken's story.
A flowing narrative coupled with concept sketches and paintings from Ralph McQuarrie make this one of the more interesting retellings of A New Hope. At points, it is similar to the Star Wars Journal series of books from 1998 and 1999 as it delves into these character's motivations. A good read both for younger readers and adults looking to reconnect with the characters. ( )

The is a new novelization of the original Star Wars film adapted for younger audiences (albeit the original novelization is something I enjoyed as a kid and this is something I enjoy as an adult so those specifications are rather loose). Bracken uses the movie script, the 1981 Star Wars radio drama, and her own imagination to retell Star Wars: A New Hope in three parts: first from Leia's point of view from her capture by Vader to the destruction of Alderaan, the story picks up with Han from the cantina to their escape from the Death Star, and Luke holds the point of view for the final third of the movie.

Since everything is seen from the point of view of one of these three characters, scenes from the movie such as those involving R2-D2 and C-3PO and Darth Vader and other imperial leaders are left out, while the part of Luke's story from the early part of the movie is only told in conversations and Luke's memories. But what is lost is made up for by the rich detail of each character's inner life and perspectives, as well as scenes that aren't in the movie (my favorite involves Luke going through an X-Wing simulator test with Wedge Antilles).

I can't imagine that there are many people who would come to this book with no previous knowledge of Star Wars but I think it would be a treat for that reader, while stilling allowing a lot of surprises if they eventually see the movie. The audiobook is enhanced by familiar John Williams music, sound effects, and voice acting by the narrators Soler and Thompson. This would make an excellent accompaniment to a long family road trip. ( )