Skip to Main Content

Summer Reading 2017

Information to guide you in your 2017 Summer Reading

Why Choose This Book?

Prez, vol 1: Corndog in Chief ,

Mark Russell (writer), Ben Caldwell (pencils), et al. (2015-2016)

It's the year 2036. After corporate citizens claimed the right to vote, all citizens gained the right - including teenagers. Partisan politics leads to an electoral deadock, and a quirk in the system means 19-year-old fast-food worker Beth Ross (aka "Corndog Girl") is elected President.  How will outsider-candidate President Ross handle the power of the country's highest office...?

What to Know About the Book Before You Read It.

This is a work of Satire, and uses humor and exaggeration to ridicule  aspects of government and society. Issues including:    Healthcare, Poverty, Social Media, Election Politics, Pharmaceutical Industry, and more 

The 6-issue series was written before the election campaign for 2016 began.

Main Character, Beth Ross, is a 19-year-old fast-food worker from Eugene, Oregon.

Based on a 1974 comic with the same name and a similar premise (see "Read More" below).

As a graphic novel, with both words and pictures doing work, it might be smart to read this book twice. First for the plot / story, and then again to look in detail at the artwork.

Note: Contains a few minor risque references used for satirical purposes.

  • Truthiness?: corporate advertising, Media-as-reality
  • Technology!: artificial intelligence (a military drone grows a conscience), social media (Vote by Twitter!), 
  • Totalitarians?: corporate authority controlling government

A Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) "Best Graphic Novel for Teens 2017"

SEE BELOW for more background, relevance, etc.

More About the Book

Corporate Advertising is everywhere...

People really do have to crowdfund their healthcare...

[this section is for stuff that lets someone who wants to read more or go deeper into aspects of the book]

[for fun stuff about the book -- pop culture references, parodies, other cool things]

Things to Think About While You Read

How does Beth actually become president?   Why does she become president?

 

The first volume ends on a cliff-hanger?  What do you think President Ross does with her term as President?

Theme-based Guided Questions for all Books

Consider these questions as you are reading your book. Having answers to them, with quotations from the book (cite page number) as supporting evidence will be very helpful when it is time to discuss and assess your reading.

1. When was your book written? When does it take place? How does that compare to 2017?

2. Who holds power or authority in your book?  

  • What role does technology play in creating or maintaining that authority?  
  • What role does communication or language play in creating or maintaining that authority?

3. How does technology affect the daily lives of the characters in your book?

  • What role does technology play in communication between characters?
  • Who has access to technology?
  • How does the technology compare to today's technology?

4. What kinds of information or media is communicated in your book? -- News? Advertising? Entertainment? Education? Propaganda? etc?

  • Who creates it, and for what purpose?
  • Who controls it, and for what purpose?
  • Who consumes it, and for what purpose?

Read More