Say Goodbye to the Gallagher Girls

If you have followed the Gallagher Girls from their inception, you know Bex, Macey, Liz and Cammie are not your average young adults. But still, you are sad to see them go, sad to see them graduate, and secretly you hope there will be a follow up series after United We Spy that brings them all back together from their super secret government spy agencies to foil another plot to destroy the world! (Hint, Hint, Ally Carter!!). 

Everyone knows the Circle is up to no good, but when the original members of the Circle start disappearing or them and their families start showing up dead, Cammie and the girls immediately worry about Zach and Preston. Preston should be safe in the embassy, but the people who are after him are scarier than anyone had imagined. But the government wants Preston and his father more than the people who are offing the circle. The girls insist Preston doesn't know anything about his father's business in the Circle, but no one wants to believe a young girl. Even if that girl is a Gallagher Girl.

When Cammie witnesses just how far the reach of this group killing off the Circle can be, and almost becomes collateral damage, the girls realize something bigger is afoot. But the scariest part of it all is that Liz, the brainchild of the group, may have set in motion the most terrifying series of events the world has ever seen. Now the girls have to figure out the connection of this secret group, the Circle, and the world atrocities that are pushing dangerous nations into World War III. But how can four girls figure this all out and stop the events from happening? Well, your first mistake is underestimating a Gallagher Girl!

This series started out as your basic Middle Reader. Fun, playful, and silly, it wasn't the most serious of series, but it was darned enjoyable! But then the series started to grow. It got darker, more serious, and the Gallagher girls matured with their readers. And finally we land in this finale, ready and waiting for the girls to graduate and simultaneously foil a plot to start WWIII. It was so perfect, so exciting, I can't believe I have to say good bye to the Gallagher Girls! I can only hope we can convince Ally Carter to start pumping out some "New Adult" Gallagher Girls stories about their adventures in their agencies so we don't have to lose them from our lives!

But the important thing about this series is the absolutely empowering message it sends to girls everywhere. You want to be a spy? Do it! You are brilliant at deciphering codes? You can do it! You are so smart you stump the people around you? Don't hide it to impress some stupid boy who should be attracted to your smarts, not intimidated by them. Use them! Be proud of them! I love the message this series sends to middle readers and young adult girls alike. It tells them there is nothing they can't do, even become a spy! And it really is a message we need to send to our young women. How many girls don't raise their hands because they are afraid their peers will catch onto how smart they are? How many don't join the science club or the math club because they will be made fun of for being a nerd? If we want more women to take charge in these typically male dominated fields, then we have to start right here. We have to be like Ally Carter who tells her readers, "I believe in you!" *climbs off her soapbox* Thank you, Ms. Carter! 

Evil Genius

Eighth grade student Oliver Watson is not the least popular kid in school, but he's close. He's pudgy, socially awkward, and never knows what's going on in his classes. He is insulted and abused on a regular basis by his classmates, derided by his teachers, and pitied by his parents. He is also the third wealthiest person in the world. You should fear him.

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President, by Josh Lieb, tells the story Oliver's campaign for the presidency of the eighth grade class. Despite his apparent bumbling idiocy, Oliver is a world power. Having realized at the ripe old age of infancy that he was smarter than his parents, he decided to play dumb. His mother had married with nothing but her looks to offer, and they were long gone; she "would be terrified by my brain." His Daddy wanted nothing more than to produce "something amazing," something that would "change the world." But Oliver was already put off by Daddy's misplaced arrogance and "wasn't going to let him warm his frigid little heart by the hot flames of my genius."

When the time was right, Oliver stole $50 from his mother and invested it well. Quickly, he became a world power, with personal assistants, secret operatives, hidden rooms, bat caves full of technological devices, and off shore oil rights. I'm not sure how accurate that list is, but you get the gist. Oliver=hidden power + hidden money. The one thing Oliver craves, despite his disdain, is the love and respect of his father, who wants in return, a "normal" son. When the student council elections are announced, Oliver realizes the only way to get through to Daddy is to become president, just like Daddy used to be. Oliver plans to use his power and money to win the election; his attempts to bribe the principal, manipulate his English teacher through hidden messages in his cigarettes, and unseat the most popular kids in the school are laugh-out-loud funny. His soft, round, and stupid mother inadvertently becomes the manager of his rag tag campaign, and their attempts to help him out by controlling his campaign come close to undoing all his behind-the-scenes work.

No spoilers here, but Oliver discovers that even genius, money, and power are vulnerable to variables beyond their control. As the bombers circle overhead, he struggles to hang on to his empire while finding a way to build a relationship with his parents.

There is a lot about this book that I love. Oliver is a perfect evil genius; his haughty arrogance and intellectual brilliance combined with the simple need for parental love made me want to bring him home and feed him grilled cheese sandwiches. Josh Lieb paints the adults and other students in Oliver's life in such tedious, mediocre, boring, fatuousness that I felt they deserved to be manipulated by him. I felt that the ending was a little too tidy, but with Oliver's wealth, maybe it WOULD be. This is a great read for a kid who has a healthy intolerance for foolishness and appreciation for the underdog. Even though Oliver is an eighth grade character, this is not an easy read; his character's vocabulary and experiences are well beyond those of the average eighth grader. Lieb's use of pictures, footnotes, paragraphing, and varied kinds of dialogue help to break up the story and keep the reader's interest.

Pick it up now; you know you want to. Besides, how else will you find out who is the next eighth grade president?