Young World

A 17-year-old’s attempt to impress his crush kicks off a series of events that culminate in his inauguration as president of the United States in this exhilarating YA debut from Chainani (the School for Good and Evil series). As the U.S. presidential election approaches, high schooler Benton posts a video online, in which he encourages young people to “throw a wrench into old Red and Blue” by electing Benton for president via write-in ballot. To his shock, the video goes viral, and not only is Benton voted into the White House, but several other nations subsequently elect teenagers as their country’s leaders. Despite Benton’s apparent instinct for politics—and the hilariously acerbic yet sound advice of his two best friends, whom he taps for his cabinet—his early attempts to spearhead government are undermined by partisan elders conspiring to maintain business-as-usual on Capitol Hill. Characters sling profane humor, jockey for power by leveraging popular-kid or mean-girl energy, and—in a cloak-and-dagger second act that turns this campy thought experiment into a pell-mell thriller—engage in imperial expansion, cleverly mirroring and critiquing contemporary politics. A pastiche of multimedia inserts including invented memes, sidewalk graffiti, and trend charts punctuate a searing and uncanny reflection on political reach, restriction, and corruption, and the friction that emerges when a wide-eyed idealist collides with the unyielding guardians of the status quo. Benton’s father is Black and his mother cues as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Pete Knapp, Park & Fine Literary. (May)