I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class

October 12, 2009
Lieb, executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
, debuts with a novel about a class election that may appeal to his show's audience as well as middle-schoolers. Oliver Watson has known since infancy that his intellect is several cuts above average. At 12, he's the third richest person in the world, secretly running a global empire while pretending to be mentally vacant (imagine The Simpsons
' Ralph Wiggum as a seventh-grader). Oliver's intellectual superiority is equaled by the meanness of his spirit. He enjoys secretly torturing his teachers and describes his adoring mother as “a shapeless, witless mass of mousy hair, belly fat, and boobs.” His pathological disdain for his father, who fondly recalls his own school electoral victory, fuels Oliver's decision to toss his hat in the ring—in order to show up Dad. The ample scatological humor is joined by a few jokes that will sail over the heads of actual seventh-graders, e.g., an aside about the work of Raymond Carver. But these won't keep readers from getting wrapped up in Oliver's malevolence and bile. Ages 12–up.

October 1, 2009
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 formatshort blurbs of text interspersed with humorous black-and-white photoswill 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"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2009
Grades 5-7 Author Lieb is the executive producer of The Daily Show, so right off the bat youre pretty sure this is going to be a smart mix of snark and whack. (Or, as Jon Stewart blurbs it, If War and Peace had a baby with The Breakfast Club.) Well, maybe not War and Peace, but this certainly has a unique take on the school experience, as seen through the eyes of fat Oliver Watson, who acts like a drip but is secretly a billionaire genius (an unlikely scenario thats actually explained quite well). Oliver was only days old when he detected Daddys hostility, setting up a classic father-son face-off. Now Oliver wants to ruin one of Daddys shining memoriesthe time he won a school electionby doing the same. One problem: everyone hates Oliver. Its hard for readers to root for a despicable, disgusting hero, but there is a certain fascination and fun here (along with some black-and-white photos) that will keep them turning pages right to the classically subversive ending, which is daubed with the faintest shade of hope and aroma of pee.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
Oliver Watson may appear dumb as dirt, but he's actually the Machiavellian owner of a secret global empire. The one thing he doesn't have is his father's respect, so he sets out to win (i.e., rig) the class election. Oliver has little depth or redeeming qualities, but his over-the-top evil voice may draw readers' attention to the book's social commentary.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)