Wide Awake

“What are you willing to do for something you believe in?”Wide awake is a YA story, about a sixteen-year-old gay Jewish boy and his mixed-race boyfriend, who make a pilgrimage to Kansas to help prevent that state’s governor from overturning the legitimate election of the first gay, Jewish president.First published in 2006, Levithan offers an afterword to this 2016 edition written in the summer of that year. What he, of course, couldn’t know was that four years later, the full power of his story’s worst-case scenario is still upon us, made worse and more surreal by the global pandemic that has engulfed us all due to the utter failure of our national leadership.Duncan and Jimmy and their friends live in a weirdly plausible not-quite-dystopian USA that has been dragged through the Greater Depression and the War to End All Wars and something referred to simply as the Reign of Fear. Otherwise, they are pretty typical teenagers, struggling with notions of independence and romance as teenagers always have. Levithan uses all sorts of clever details to remind us that this is not the world we know (or knew in 2006) but, rather, a world that we might come to know someday. These are good kids, and as is typical of so many YA novels, their parents barely register on the page. I was relieved and comforted that, while the parents never matter much in the action, they are there, and they are not entirely powerless or pointless.Duncan and Jimmy and their friends—including the older folks who make the pilgrimage to Kansas possible—are great people, people I’d be proud to know. The most fascinating detail of this future world is an apparent alliance of liberally minded evangelical Christians and LGBTQ youth. This vision of a world where liberal Christians (or, as I like to think of them, actual Christians) embrace ideas of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everyone brought tears to my eyes, and more than once.I’ve had this book on my Kindle for a while, and I’m glad I chose this moment to read it. Levithan is probably more appalled than I am at the state of the nation right now, but his faith in people as expressed in this book gave me hope.

What a disappointment! I have adored everything else I've read by David Levithan but this was embarrassing. The premise seemed cool enough--a dystopian future where a Jewish gay man becomes president after our country has fallen apart and rebuilt itself. And it started off well, too! The beginning really painted a nice picture of where our narrator, Duncan, was living.And, it fell flat.Basically, good old President-elect Stein was having his election thrown in question because Kansas was too close to call and the governor demanded a recount. (Sound familiar?) So, all the Stein supporters flocked to Kansas to express their dissent for the governor and support for the infallible Stein. It should have been interesting, but all the characters were bland cardboard cut outs of real people. Their struggles in life were non-existent. Duncan loved his boyfriend and was worried he didn't love him back. (Don't worry-- he does. And they don't break up, falter, cheat on one another, find someone else attractive, etc. etc. He just, you know, realizes that he loves him.) These characters just bumble through the story and it's annoying. There is no conflict, save for some minor characters cheating on one another, but even still they're so one dimensional it's hard to care about their struggles. Maybe the story should have been told from their point of view? I don't know.What really bothered me were the small, lazy choices. For instance, even though I can tell you all sorts of stupid details about Abe Stein and his VP Alice Martinez, I cannot tell you a single thing about his opponent. The opponent was so unimportant he wasn't even given a name. His VP wasn't even given a gender. That is so lazy. Okay, so he wasn't even worth a name? Not even "Bob Smith"? That was annoying, because it made the character's dialogue so unnatural. Think about it--say we're discussing the most recent presidential race. Say you supported Obama. You didn't just refer to Romney constantly as "the opponent". He wasn't some faceless creature--ESPECIALLY if you were so passionate about Obama that the hypothetical you is spending all your free time at the volunteer centers! That's what drove me crazy. No one mentioned what made Stein's opponent so bad. I mean, if you feel so passionately about wanting Stein as a president, maybe I ought to know what makes "the opponent" so bad.Another lazy choice that bothered me was the boy named Sue. Yes. He was a boy named Sue. Who had a father ditch him as a little kid. Who chases the father down in a bar and greets him with, yes, you guessed it: "My name is Sue! How do you do?!?" No mention to Johnny Cash or anything. That character, in all seriousness was super pointless. I didn't get why he even existed.After a bunch of boring events (like, the character waffling over whether he will go to Kansas after his parents forbade him to...then five pages later goes "oh, okay I will go" and his parents rolling over and not getting mad over his disobedience. Then...getting to Kansas and sitting around a while. Then, an almost fight that leaves everyone intact without a bruise to speak of. Then, more sitting around) a tape emerges that shows that the governor is *gasp* a purely evil man who rigged the entire system to ensure that the recount would go to the nameless opponent and somehow this just conveniently surfaces. Before anything interesting happens like, say, the election got handed to The Opponent (I'm making the story better in my retelling just now. I've decided that The Opponent is actually the dude's name, much like my toad The Impostor. When he fills out forms and his last name goes first, it's "Opponent, The." There. Fixed it.) this tape surfaces and the election goes straight to Stein and everyone lives happily ever after.No, really. That's how it ended. With some maudlin speech from Abe Stein that is supposed to be inspirational but instead reads as some over the top garbage. That's it. That's your story. I wasted two nights of reading on this guy.Hopefully you won't do the same.

Abe Stein has been elected as the first gay Jewish President of the United States of America. It was a victory by only the state of Kansas. Duncan Weiss and his boyfriend Jimmy are more then excited. They have been volunteering at the local Stein headquarters, since the election. The morning after the election, questions arise about the handling of the ballots in Kansas from the opposition.Stein ask his supporters to come to Kansas, so that his opponents can see the faces of the people that they are going to deceive. Duncan is not sure, if he should go or if he should stay. The thought of staying drives a wedge between him and Jimmy. Duncan must choose between staying home and playing it safe or stand up for what he believes in.Duncan is a relatable character. The plot was interested, but I love political aspect. Wide Awake is a thought provoking book, about ideals in our world. In Wide Awake, their are stores for donating to charities and the whole world has medical care. Even though this book is fiction it could happen. Levithan's message is one of hope.

I bought the Kindle edition of this book, knowing that I like some of David Levithan's other work and hoping this would be no exception.Set in a future era, the main plot is of the first gay Jewish president of the USA - Abraham Stein. In oppposition of Stein winning the election, the governor of Kansas calls for a recount, so all the Stein supporters journey to Kansas in order to support the president's campaign and their right to vote for whom they please.The book is told from the point of veiw of Duncan, a 16 year old gay Jewish youth. During the course of the book, he travels to Kansas with a group of other supportors in order to rally for Stein. Another prominent plot of the book is Duncan's relationship with his boyfriend Jimmy. While Jimmy stands up for what he believes in and is quite quick to anger when his rights are defied, Duncan is quite shy, and has a hard time saying what he feels he should. He worries frequently about losing his partner because of not being outright with his feelings.Despite what appear to be negative traits for Duncan, I really liked him, as you, the reader, can see his beauty and hear his feelings that are hidden from the other characters.The whole book is written in very evocative language. You are constantly feeling what Duncan feels in regards to his country's freedom, the rights of the minorities he is a part of, and his feelings towards Jimmy and other characters within the book. You understand his problems and dichotomies. Even though he finds it hard, you understand and agree with the decisions he makes.An amazing book that is most certainly worth reading. My only criticism is that it seemed to be finished in an awfully short space of time!

Read this story to my two year old who is now 17! He still loves the story!