Tag Archives: YouTube

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

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Cover image for I am a geniusTwelve-year-old Oliver Watson is a closet genius.  Everyone, including his parents, thinks he’s mentally deficient.   What they don’t realize is that he’s a certifiable genius, secretly running a fortune 500 company, and wealthy beyond belief.   An ingenious inventor, he has his home and school tricked out to make his life more bearable – for example, he’s rigged the water fountains at school to dispense root beer for him and he has a secret lair accessible from his bedroom where he runs his corporation.

Oliver tolerates his mother, but despises his father.  Oliver decides to run for class president in order to destroy his father’s faith in the elections system.  You see his dad was class president and sees it as the ultimate achievement.  Oliver’s goal is to prove his father’s accomplishment means nothing if he, Oliver the dim-wit, can win the election.  Oliver uses his considerable resources and underhanded tactics in his election campaign.

A cross between Artemis Fowl (also an evil boy genius) and The Gospel According to Larry (use of footnotes and sarcasm), I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President is a laugh our loud read.  You don’t know wether to root for Oliver to win or to be defeated.  I couldn’t put this book down and finished it in one sitting, a rarity these days for me.  Oh, and I’ve heard that the movie rights were purchased and the project is in development.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

Category: Contemporary/Science-Fiction

Tags: fiction, science fiction, comedy, action, bullying, contemporary, politics

Additional Resources:

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Genius Website – website for the book

USAToday.com: “Josh Lieb of ‘Daily Show’ puts his wit to ‘Unspeakable Evil’” – article and video of the author reading from the book.

YouTube Video: “I AM A GENIUS OF UNSPEAKABLE EVIL AND I WANT TO BE YOUR CLASS PRESIDENT, by Josh Lieb” – Book Trailer Created by June Henson

Odds & Ends (06/06/10)

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YouTube: An Open Letter to Educators – Interesting idea.  Not sure I agree.  Education needs a foundation of “facts” in order to build upon ideas, spark creativity, and develop new ideas.  However, I do agree that education needs to adapt.  Less standards/test driven and more practical/process/hands-on driven.

The Royal Society: Trailblazing – an interactive timeline of over 60,000 articles published by the Royal Society from 1665 to 2010.

James Patterson’s ReadKiddoRead.com - more for younger to middle school level students, this site provides book recommendations as well as some tips on how to get kids reading.  In particular, take a look at the 12 Tried and True Ways to Get Your Kiddos Reading. I <3 #9 “Love Your Books and Your Library!”

National Constitution Center: Interactive Constitution – Search the constitution by keyword, explore by a topic, or search by a Supreme Court Case.

The Great Fire of London, 1666 (game) – Probably not too useful for high school level, but an interesting (to me at least!) learning game about the Great Fire of London.