(Multi-page update day! Start at page 63 for the chapter~)

And now for a fun guest blog by First Second’s marketing mastermind, Gina Gagliano!

“Astronaut Academy: The Race for Student Body President” by Gina GaglianoIn honor of today’s holiday, President’s Day, where we celebrate some or all of America’s honored Presidential cadre (the actual number of presidents included seems to vary by state, if you can believe it), we bring you this thought experiment (an excellent exercise for the academic environs of Astronaut Academy!):

What if the students of Astronaut Academy had to elect a student body president? Who would win with the most votes?

Our candidates are (in fair and mostly moderately unbiased alphabetical order):

 

Rodney Blueblatt: being captain of the Chibi Sesame Seeds Fireball team makes him too busy to campaign. Possibly there are fireball groupies to take care of this for him! 

Doug Hiro: as the president does not have any power over the vastness of space, Doug Hiro may not be able to put in the effort required to get or hold down the job – even with the encouragement of Mrs. Cupcake.
Calico Hopps: even in the future in outer space, there’s still a belief that bunnies don’t make good presidents. Prejudice persists. . .

Martin Ipalson: with so many members of Team Feety Pajamas, the TFPJ vote is split! That’s what happens when you divide your party.

 

Spike Johansen: may become too obsessed with the question, ‘what does it mean to run for student body president?’ to properly coordinate a campaign. 

Billy Lee: no longer has long hair to attract the vote. Possibly is now cuter than ever?! 

Monique Leek: with so many members of Team Feety Pajamas, the TFPJ vote is split! That’s what happens when you divide your party. 

Maliik Mehendale: not if he doesn’t change his shirt. 

Maribelle Mellonbelly: has enough money to buy the vote 10 times over. The question is: would she want to? 

Munchie Ng: it may not be in the cards. 

Tak Offsky: we consulted with Tak, and he told us, “Who would want to be a lousy president when it’d take so much time I could use perfecting my Fireball game? No thanks.” 

Miyumi San: her long-running feud with Maribelle Mellonbelly now resolved, it’s official – everyone loves Miyumi San! Could her time-traveling watch propel her to victory in this classroom election? 

Molly Sprinkles: accidentally misspelled president ‘p-r-e-s-i-d-a-n-t.’ Automatic disqualification! 

Hakata Soy: his sad, brooding, cute nature may get votes from the girls at Astronaut Academy . . . but will the boys be similarly impressed, even in light of his newfound talents in Fireball? 

Marcos Stamatis: Marcos’ sarcasm does not translate well into stirring political paeans. 

Tomcat Stevens: with so many members of Team Feety Pajamas, the TFPJ vote is split! That’s what happens when you divide your party, even if it includes a stuffed bear. 

Cybert/Todd Sweeney: unfortunately, Cybert does not register in the voting software, as the student he is impersonating, Todd Sweeney, is out with celestial influenza. 

Thalia Thistle: having Thalia’s scientist dad around all the time may inhibit a campaign that takes proper advantage of all Thalia’s sporting talents. . . 

Scab Wellington: people don’t want to vote for you when you’ve beaten them up in the past? This is surprising news for Scab Wellington. 

??? 

Supposedly this is the most popular girl in school, so a lot of people would vote for her if they could only remember her name!So . . . who would you vote for?

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Gina Gagliano is the Marketing Associate at :01 First Second books publisher of Astronaut Academy and countless other wonderful graphic novels for all types of readers. You can often find her blogging on the First Second website.

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