Grade 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 format—short blurbs of text interspersed with humorous black-and-white photos—will 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.