Having read the previous two YA books about brothers growing up in New Jersey, GARLIC BREAD FOR EUGENE and LEMONADE FOR EUGENE, I was keen to continue the adventure. Henry takes looking after his younger brother very seriously as their dad has died. Their explorations of life and the neighbourhood invariably tell us a lot about their community. This tale involves GRILLED CHEESE FOR EUGENE.

While eating lunch in the school cafeteria, Henry checks the school website and sees some changes coming. The kids realise that closing the chess club and gardening club must be because the school can't pay for supervision. Couldn't parents be asked to volunteer? And the new rules on only healthy food even for parties don't sound like fun. Everyone is quick to complain but there's nothing kids can do. Or is there? Eugene thinks that if Henry ran for class president he might be able to make a difference. Henry just wants to concentrate on football tryouts, and doubts the staff would listen anyway.

Butchie, the school janitor, has been a prominent figure in the past, and now we learn more from him about relationships. Even though he is in his fifties, the situation he faces could be faced by younger people as well. Each generation thinks they invented falling in love and having their feelings hurt, but we see there is nothing new. Butchie also observes times changing in the seafront community.

Alisha Westland is a competent young lady who is determined to be class president, and she's even putting money behind her publicity campaign. Money that Henry just doesn't have. If it's not to come down to boys voting for a boy and girls voting for a girl, Henry and Eugene will need to create a proper campaign platform and start demonstrating that kids can create change.

I like that we see you can win and also lose, that politicians have ways of swaying voters and that there are some people who will help more than others. Terms are explained throughout the story. The two friendly kids will stay in many readers' hearts and we'll hope for another enjoyable adventure. GRILLED CHEESE FOR EUGENE by Michael Heath is well worth the read and we can learn a lot about life.

Book Summary

In the third installment of the Eugene Series, Henry is persuaded by his school lunchroom buddies to run for eighth-grade class president when budget cuts and polices set forth by the board of education affect the entire student body.

Butchie, the janitor, has misgivings with Henry’s political ambitions. He knows the parents of Henry’s opponent and they are a power couple who will stop at nothing to ensure their daughter’s victory. Henry and his brother Eugene can count on Butchie to help with the campaign, even when his love life with Gail Paisley is causing distractions.