I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President - Josh Lieb

Another recommendation, this one from a co-worker with great comedic taste. I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President is written by Josh Lieb, one of the writers for The Daily Show featuring Jon Stewart. I was immediately enticed to purchase the novel based on that fact alone, but when I visited my favorite little bookstore (Barnes and Noble… who are we kidding?! Small book stores just don’t exist anymore. See You’ve Got Mail), I was perplexed by finding the novel hidden in the secluded children’s alcove of the store. Maybe it was presumptuous of me, but I was pretty sure anything written by someone who also writes for The Daily Show would portray a similar writing style and content as Jon Stewart, and honestly, naked Supreme Court Justices don’t belong in the children’s section of any store. Forgiving Barnes and Noble for their loss of sanity in placing this book in their partitioned, hazy yellow section, I purchased the book and toted it home.

We read the book on a road trip (we being me and the other three family members riding in the car). I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud so much from a book. I was relieved to be confined to a vehicle of people who HAVE to love me regardless of how ridiculous I looked, and not sitting on a patio outside some coffee/donut/burrito hut where people on the streets could assume I was a few crayons short of a crayon box.

Oliver Watson is a completely useless seventh grade boy who is stupid, lazy, and… a genius. While those in his family and at his school see him as a pathetic worm, he has secretly created a multitude of lucrative empires using a recovering alcoholic as his image. Oliver is the third richest person in the world but, regardless of his millions of dollars and faithful servants, he wants to be class president of his Omaha middle school. Stemming primarily from his desire to gain his father’s approval, Oliver will do anything to win the class presidency, even going so far as to start a war in Africa over a Star Wars action figure.

This novel was a light read. It was funny, entertaining, and made me want to read more after each pit stop. I find this book perfectly acceptable for young kids, although I would say junior high and up would benefit most from the humor. I loved it and I can’t wait to see what else Josh Lieb has in store for us in the future.

-Harper