I Am A Genius Of Unspeakable Evil And I Want To Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb

I realise that this book is in our children’s collection, but it has such broadly layered appeal that it would be just as happy on the YA, or even adults, fiction shelves. Author Josh Lieb is an executive producer on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the book sticks to that same kind of low brow humour for the switched on intellect that make the show such compulsive viewing. 

The protagonist, Oliver Watson is a condescending, selfish, snobbish and complex evil genius. He is at the helm of a vastly profitable global empire, but being all of 12 years old, must keep this fact secret from his classmates, family and the world at large. To do this he puts on an incredibly gormless front, feigning ignorance at every turn. Unfortunately this means he is just about the least popular boy in school, making a sucessful campaign for class president to impress his disappointed father quite improbable, whether or not the other candidates can be blackmailed by an army of secret agents …

Highly recommended, unless you’re both lazy and patient and want to wait for the upcoming movie instead.

– Jack