Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks

When readers first meet Cadel Piggot, he is seven years old and being sent to a psychologist because he got caught hacking into computers and stealing credit card information.  His adoptive parents are at a loss.  His teachers have no idea what to do with him.  With the guidance of the psychologist, Cadel starts figuring out systems and creating problems at their weak points.  He flies through school, though without any friends, and after he graduates (at a very young age), his psychologist suggests that Cadel attend the Axis Institute.  Little do his adoptive parents know that the Axis Institute is really an academy for criminals.  Most supervillans have advanced degrees (Doctor Doom or Doctor Octopus, for example), so they must have trained somewhere, right?  The Axis Institute was Catherine Jinks’s idea of where the supervillans got those degrees.  Is Cadel really evil, though, or has he been nurtured into criminality, not knowing any better?  Are his parents really ignorant of the truth?  And just who can an “evil genius” trust, anyway?

Genius Squad is the sequel to Evil Genius.

Evil Genius is an engrossing tale of a boy who thinks he controls everyone, only to find out that he may not be quite as good at it as he thinks he is (but then again, neither are his enemies).

Review by Kathleen

Does My Head Look Big In This? By Randa Abdel-Fattah

Amal is a pretty normal Australian high school student who just happens to be Muslim.  She’s at a new public school after having gone to an Islamic school for several years.  While her parents don’t pressure her about religion, Amal decides she wants to be go “full-time,” wearing the traditional Islamic hijab whenever she’s in the presence of anyone other than women and her family.  That means wearing the hijab to her snobby prep school.  And that means facing her principal’s arguments about it being against tradition and not in compliance with the regulations concerning uniforms.  But while she wears the hijab, she learns some things about being true to herself, being a good Muslim, and still being a fairly typical teenager with an almost-boyfriend.

Randa Abdel-Fattah’s novel takes a look at stereotyping and prejudice from both sides without seeming preachy.  Yes, Amal learns some lessons while people judge her in a post-9/11 culture, but she realizes that she’s judging other people too.

Review by Kathleen