The Beginner's Guide to Winning an Election

Brit Kitridge's plan was just to get her high school diploma and head to college and med school, but nobody can escape from fate, or is it history? The Beginner's Guide To Winning an Election reveals our main character’s love for history, and after a summer reading books that fuel her passion for politics, Brit decides to join TM (Team Mathew), a fourteen-member group that has helped Mathew Boltanski win every election he’s ever entered. Now he’s going for the big one—student body president. By orchestrating brilliant campaigns one after the other, TM has made Matthew a national young star and promising politician who could even run for higher office in Washington. When Brit is accused of sabotaging the team, she realizes that Hawthorn High has its secrets, and someone needs to shed some light on them. The story is set in a world six years ahead of our time. Security is a constant issue. Politics isn't black-and-white, it's not even gray anymore. Inflation is out of control and the educational system is in crisis. But what happens when you find out what’s really going on? What do you do with secrets no one but you wants to hold up to the light?

"Young adults receive an inspirational story of a young woman's determination to not just to run for office, but to do the right thing as she faces many obstacles to success. Powered by Brit's determination, revelations, and challenges to her objectives and ethics, The Beginner's Guide to Winning an Election creates a powerful story of a novice's journey through American politics which will appeal to all kinds of readers, from idealistic,aspiring young women to those who want a realistic tale of a high school girl's coming of age." - Diane Donovan @ Midwest Book Review
"The Beginner's Guide To Winning an Election is a quick read with a well-written plot and a fast pace. I really liked the fact that the book didn't end on election day but continues until graduation day. If you thought politics is tough, high school politics belongs to a level of its own." - San Francisco Book Review
"The story seemed very real and felt like that this could really happen in the real world. Author Michael R. French did a good job at making his dialogue and points clear and used great vocabulary that kept you on your toes." - Madelynn, age 14, Kids Book Buzz
"A biting and prescient YA satire. The novel unabashedly shines a light on how politics at any level can spin out of control, which is particularly apt in these times. The story is so compelling, and the protagonist Britain Kitridge so admirably dogged, that the reader is propelled to the end. Unique and incisive, The Beginner's Guide to Winning an Election is a YA novel that will appeal to all ages, and once started is hard to put down." -Self-Publishing Review