The Model President by Brian Tacang

Genre: Children's Fiction

Millicent Madding initially thought she would make a great sixth grade class president when she first decided to run. She had the brains, the creativity, and the leadership – all indicators of a great president for Winifred T. Langley Middle School. Furthermore, nobody else would volunteer, so why not her? Imagine her horror when a new rival arrives – Fiona Dimmet, an elitist model from Pretty Liddy's Junior Fashion Academy. Since the academy is undergoing renovation; Fiona, along with her crew, are only temporary students at Langley Middle School. However, Fiona is bent on crushing Millicent as well as her drab fashion sense. Popular, pretty, superficial, and arrogant Fiona then decides to change the rules of the election: the election would take the form as a modeling competition.

In my opinion, the whole story was really pointless. Fiona wasn't a real student at Langley, so it didn't make sense why she would still be allowed to run. The plot was overly dramatized, overdone, and mostly over-the-top, especially with Millicent having two parents who are lost in time travel and as well as an aunt who lost her memory while performing in a circus.

What I especially hated was how the people from Pretty Liddy's all had to mutilate the English language, using words such as "superberific", "spectabulous", "beautilicious", and "fabulistic".

This is another nerd - vs.- popular kids story, and it was clear what the outcome was going to be like. The characters are really stereotypical. Brainiac Millicent has an intellectual uncle as well as super-intelligent parents; while pretty Fiona is perfect in every way, in terms of clothing, style, and popularity.

It was really absurd how all the students just immediately flocked and groveled to the kids from Pretty Liddy's right after they arrived. Even Millicent's friends ignored her after Fiona's overly dramatic, Hollywood-style arrival. They didn't really have to act like mindless zombies, which were exactly what they were compared to in the book. It shocked me even more when even the principal and teachers listened to them. You'd think they'd have the sense not to worship a bunch of kids who put them down because of their clothing.

The Model President certainly was an unfabulistic story for me, unfortunately.

100 Girls by Adam Gallardo & Todd Demong

Genre: Young Adult/Comics

When Sylvia Mark starts manifesting super strength and agility, she has no explanation for it. To add to that, she keeps having terrifying nightmares. Not realizing her own strength, she accidentally breaks the arm of a mean girl who has been picking on her. Having to face suspension and realizing her foster parents' disappointment in her, she decides to run away from home. However, she ends up tangled in a failed kidnapping and meets a girl who looks just like her but with a different talent. As Sylvia continues on her adventure, she learns of a secret agency that may able to explain her strange powers. But can these people be trusted?

I'm not a fan of comics, so I wasn't sure what to expect while reading 100 Girls. The blood and gore was really distracting; I couldn't believe how many people Sylvia killed. Was it really necessary? For a thirteen year old, she is really strong in both personality and physique – too strong, in fact. Feminine strength should have been a redeeming quality, but Sylvia was too wild and murderous for me to like. The story also felt too rushed; it was at times confusing to read. Sometimes, I felt like I didn't even know what was going on. As harsh as it is, the antagonists of the story almost didn't seem like such bad guys compared to Sylvia.

As far as the story goes, I was shocked to learn that Sylvia had been designed to be the ultimate weapon along with ninety-nine other girls – well, that explains the violence.