I Am A Genius of Unspeakable Evil...

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President by Josh Lieb 

Razorbill, 2010

272 pages

4 out of 5

Oliver Watson is pretty much your average kid.  He lives in Omaha, Nebraska.  His favorite after-school snack is a grilled-cheese sandwhich.  His best friend is his beautiful brindle pit bull mix, Lollipop.  And...oh yeah.  He's a mad evil genius on his way to total utter world domination.

Nobody can stop Oliver from getting what he wants.  Not Jordie Moscowitz, the class bully.  Not his plaid wearing, can't-disguise-that-he's-balding English teacher, Mr. Moorhead.  Not even Oliver's father and arch nemesis, "Daddy."  (He hates being called that.) It doesn't matter how many dictators Oliver has to overthrow.  How many presidents he has to blackmail.  How many bingo-addicted grandmas he has to bribe.  What Oliver wants, Oliver gets.

That is, until now.  Because Oliver Watson is running for class president.  And he's about to discover, ruling the world is actually a lot easier than getting other kids to  vote for you.

Even for a genius of unspeakable evil.

There is no doubt in my mind that Oliver Watson is a genius.  I'm actually a little green with envy.  I don't want to be an evil genius or anything, but I would like the benefits that go along with it--like the secret lair, bodyguards that keep life's annoying people* away, that sort of thing.

This book was a lot of fun to read and I kick myself a little for not having read it sooner.  Oliver is not your typical narrator.  He proves himself to be an evil genius and that he's also an incredible actor.  I suppose the two have to go hand-in-hand when your evil genius-ness is a secret.

The writing is solid and conversational.  It's written from  Oliver's perspective, almost like a diary but not quite.  Even so, graduates of Diary of a Wimpy Kid should find this enjoyable as well.

I highly recommend this title.  It's humorous, includes some fun pictures and evil** footnotes.  What more could you want?

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*ie that guy who wants to take me out to lunch for helping him find some music.  Dude, I promise, the thank you was enough.
**Evil on an e-reader at least.  Clicking back and forth was a little annoying (especially when it wouldn't click).  So I recommend reading the print version over the digital version.  Either way, it's an enjoyable read.

Disclosure: I borrowed the e-book version of this title from my local library.