Vote for Larry -- Janet Tashjian
Vote for Larry came out ages ago, but due to the results of the election, I couldn't bring myself to read it until just recently. It was a great sequel. Actually, I liked it better than the first book. Josh/Larry isn't nearly as annoyingly righteous, and the book comes off as much less preachy. It's written in the same style as the first book--including the hilarious footnotes--and all of the characters from the first book, including the heinous betagold, return.
Whatever the future held, I would meet my fate as Josh Swensen. And that meant embracing Larry again. And being Larry meant contributing in a big way. I unfolded the napkin I'd scribbled on in the diner and read my New Year's resolution.
This year I will run for president.
He goes into the election knowing that he can't become president--as an eighteen-year-old, he's ineligible. But while it isn't legal for an eighteen-year-old to BE president, there's no law that says an eighteen-year-old can't RUN for president. So he uses the election as a platform to voice his ideas. There's a lot in it about campaign finance reform, the environment, and quality of life in general. Among other things. Lots of other things.
I got the feeling that Janet Tashjian tried really hard to keep the book non-partisan--Josh/Larry's beef is with the whole system, not a specific candidate. She worked hard to portray both Republicans and Democrats as being total jerks.
So even though the story really does take place during the 2004 election, I think that the book could be used in a classroom without one side or the other suing the school. Maybe. There were a few moments where I think that she slipped up--I suspect that she leans pretty left of left--but I was really watching for them.