Gr 7–9—Lieb's first novel is a comedy/sci-fi fantasy about Oliver Watson, an overweight 12-year-old from Omaha, NE, who fools his family and classmates into thinking that he is slow-witted when in fact he is the world's third-richest person. He overthrows foreign dictators, owns corporations, is a successful inventor and investor, and is on the way to attaining his goal of world domination. This evil supergenius, who makes Artemis Fowl look ready for sainthood, has the appeal of a cartoon villain. His father and arch nemesis is too involved in running a local PBS affiliate and too uninvolved in his son. What Oliver really wants is his dad's approval and attention. He decides that the way to get this is to win the election for president of the eighth-grade class at Gale Sayers Middle School. Lieb perfectly captures the wise-guy sarcasm and trash mouth of a seventh-grade evil genius. Readers will love the sci-fi/fantasy touches, from Oliver's elaborate underground lair to the transmitter implanted in his jaw and his installing root beer and chocolate milk at the school's water fountain (of course, only he knows how to make it work). The format—short blurbs of text interspersed with humorous black-and-white photos—will appeal to reluctant readers. Although the book has as little subtlety as its title, certainly the theme of a boy wanting his father's love is a universal one. This is a book kids will be talking about.—Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Part of being a great YA author is being a great YA reader, and seeing what your peers are putting out into the world for teens. But research isn’t the only reason to read YA, of course; we read it because it’s damn good, and as writers ourselves, we appreciate the written word done right. […]
When it comes to presidential politics, nonfiction often rules the day. And although historical accounts and biographies of U.S. presidents are fascinating (see in particular Jon Meacham’s riveting biography of Andrew Jackson, American Lion), there’s a lot to be said for a well-written story about the equally cutthroat world of fake politics. In that spirit, […]
High IQ, maniacal laughter, secret lair, devious hand-rubbing, posse of henchmen, detailed (and often thwarted) plans for world domination—all the hallmarks of evil geniuses. But before these villainous guys and gals graduated to being bald, eyepatch-wearing, weird-pet–owning grown-up evildoers, they all had to clear one important hurdle: middle school. Check out some of our favorite […]
I can already imagine the Hollywood pitch for a film adaptation of Ratscalibur, the newest middle grade novel by New York Times best-selling writer Josh Lieb, author of I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President.