Captain Awesome for President

Stan Kirby's Captain Awesome for President is a funny school election story for 5 year olds about a boy who reckons being class president is like being a superhero without the mask.

What happens

Ms Beasley has an announcement. Every year group at Sunnyview Elementary is going to vote for its own class president! Is Eugene going to run? "Is spandex itchy?!" is his answer.

There's a catch, of course. Meredith Mooney is running too. Only she keeps saying she's running for queen. And whoever wins, she says, also wins the tiebreaker for their drawn dodgeball game in gym.

So Eugene, Charlie and Sally get to work in the tree house with a plate of Mum's chocolate chip cookies. Ideas include cheese with every lunch, no tests ever and a Superhero Day (Charlie's slogan is the cheesiest).

Then comes the bit Eugene hadn't thought about. Speeches. In front of real people! He stares at a classroom full of faces and his tummy fills with butterflies. So Captain Awesome bursts in to make the speech for him instead (one teacher thinks he's called Captain Possum).

Meanwhile Meredith is promising pizza every day, pets at school every day and hardly any homework. The other children LOVE it. Can she actually do any of that? She doesn't seem too worried.

There's a quieter candidate too. Dara Sim gives a speech about what a president is really for, and it gives Eugene a lot to think about. And then, just as he's about to make his big final speech, the lights go out!

Being inside Eugene's head is so much fun. When the coach puts Charlie on the other team in gym, he must secretly be the evil UnFriender. And when Ms Beasley hasn't had her coffee she turns into Miss Beastly.

There's a lot of name-calling between Eugene and Meredith. She calls him Eugerm and Pee-yew-gene, and he's sure she's really the villain Little Miss Stinky Pinky. It's all very playground, nothing nasty.

Has your reader got a school council vote on the way? This is a very silly way in. There's a nice bit about promises you can actually keep tucked in among the jokes.

It's book twenty in the Captain Awesome series. You don't need the others first, because the opening tells you who everyone is. It's American too, so expect second grade, recess and gym.

What to read next

If they're after more of Eugene deciding the grown-ups at school must be up to something, try Captain Awesome vs the Sinister Substitute Teacher. One Monday Ms Beasley simply isn't there, and the Squad are certain the new teacher knows why.