Wide Awake

by David Levithan

Book Overview

The New York Times bestselling author of Every Day delivers an emotional and politically charged novel that's perfect reading for an election year--and for every year--but most especially for those times when the very democratic process is called into question and basic rights are at risk.

In the not-too-impossible-to-imagine future, a gay Jewish man has been elected president of the United States. Until the governor of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375834672
• ISBN13: 9780375834677
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Rh Childrens Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Powerful Story That You can Easily Relate To

This book was published in 2006, and reading it a decade later, everything in this book holds true to today, especially in the political climate we're in. I was touched by everything. Not only do I appreciate David Levithan for not making this another coming out story (because there's a lot of those and it gets tiring sometimes) but the power he gives to the community and younger people made me really happy. I love this book, and I feel like everyone should read this.

Who is David Levithan?

Levithan, David. "Wide Awake" Knopf, 2008. WHO IS DAVID LEVITHAN? Amos Lassen Some of you who read "Out" magazine may have seen the wonderful article on David Levithan in the September issue. After reading it my curiosity was peaked and I decided that I would try to reach him and see what made him tick? I fired off an email and he forwarded it to his agent and within a week I had copies of all of his books and am looking forward to doing a phone interview with him soon. Levithan has captured the audience of young gay readers. Although he, himself did not come out until her was in his college, the characters in his books are younger and have come out a good deal earlier. The high school gay experiences that he writes about are products of kids' imagination but you would never know that he had not experiences themselves. They read that real. There is something in the sincerity of his style and his stories that makes you want to read his entire oeuvre. I never thought that tales of teen gay love would ever interest me. Levithan's novels and stories not only interest--they fascinate and mesmerize as well. Let's take a look at what he has written. Perhaps Levithan's most popular book is "Boy Meets Boy" (Knopf, 2003). It is original and crazy and lots of fun. The action takes place at a unique high school where the cheerleaders are biker babes and the homecoming queen whose name is Infinite Darlene was once a guy named Darryl. The schools gay-straight club was not formed because it was needed to keep the gay kids safe but because it was necessary to teach the straight kids how to dance. In the midst of his craziness is a romance--the story of Noah and Paul. Their relationship goes awry and the students place bets to see if they will get back together. (Imagine this at Central High, Little Rock). With 12 to 1 odds against Paul getting Noah back, it does not look too good. Mixed in with this are problems with other friends and we are no longer in Paradise. The characters are zany yet you feel you would love to have one of them around the house. "The Realm of Possibility" (Knopf, 2004) gives us another set of endearing characters. It deals with all kinds of relationships and all kinds of teenagers. Each of the four storylines centers around one specific kid---- Daniel, Mary, Diana and Megan. Their interactions with their peers and with each other are the stuff good stories are made of. If you want to feel young and like a high schooler again, "The Realm of Possibility" is the book for you. The story that I really loved dealt with two boys on the verge of celebrating their first anniversary. It was far from my own experience but tender enough to make me wish that I had lived through a similar experience. "The Full Spectrum" (Knopf, 20060 is a collection of youthful writing about identity--gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning identities. I am sure you have noticed that today's kids are much more aware of both their sexuality and their id

Outstanding Book

Wide Awake is an excellent paradigm-shifting book that I highly recommend to teens and adults. As an adult, I greatly appreciate how the author wove powerful political and societal messages into an enjoyable and captivating story. I also really appreciate the fact that the book integrates characters in gay and straight relationships.

How It SHOULD be...

I love what Levithan has done, imagining the success of the true moral majority, the liberal, inclusive world that we are just a hair's breath away from.

For the politically-oriented teen

David Levithan's newest novel, "Wide Awake," is a political novel set "in the near future." Here's the set up: "The Greater Depression happened. The events of 3/12 and 7/23 happened. The Andreas Quake and Hurricane Wanda. The President launched his War to End All Wars, which only managed to create more wars and the tragic events of 4/5. The Greater Depression deepened. Millions of people died, and there was no way to erase their faces from the more renegade open news channels, which wanted to remind everyone how bad the government had let things get. The Decents and their program of Denial Education reached their peak." The hero and narrator of "Wide Awake" is a Jewish, gay teen named Duncan who is engaged politically for the first time in his life. After all the troubles of his childhood and the generation(s) before, it seems as if a new era is on the horizon. His presidential candidate, Abraham Stein, a Jewish gay man with a partner and children, has been elected. People are behaving differently, celebrating their ethnic, cultural, and sexual differences. And supporting them all is a sizable group of Jesus Freaks. "For the Jesus Revolutionaries, the answer was clear: Jesus would not be out waging "preventative" wars. Jesus would not be withholding medicine from people who could not afford it. Jesus would not cast stone at people of races, sexual orientations, or genders other than his own. Jesus would not condone the failing, viperous, scandal-plagued hierarchy of some churches. Jesus would welcome everyone to his table. He would love them, and he would find peace." Sounds like a utopian novel so far, right? But there's a hitch. A hitch in the form of Kansas. Stein's election is being contested. To the tune of 1,000 votes. (Sound familiar?) Stein calls all his supporters to Kansas and Duncan and his friends head to Topeka to support their candidate. While "Wide Awake" is a political novel, Levithan does not abandon the everyday. Duncan struggles in his relationship with gorgeous Jimmy, teachers can be kind or belligerent, parents are sometimes more conservative than you'd like, and friends take sides in everyday breakups. But, in the end, Levithan's message is one of hope. People can be good and good people can change even the worst-case scenario into a better present and future. "Wide Awake" is for older teens, ages 15 and up.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Decades from today, the results of the election are out, and for the first time in the history of the United States, a gay, Jewish president, Abraham Stein, has been elected. After the Greater Depression, the War to End All Wars, the Reign of Fear, and the Jesus Revolution, the moment has arrived. Seventeen-year-old Duncan, who has spent the last few months working with his boyfriend, Jimmy, as a volunteer at the campaign headquarters, can finally stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance because at last the words "with liberty and justice for all" make sense. But soon everything will take a 180-degree turn. The governor of Kansas, a member of the opposition party, demands a recount. Stein is determined to fight back, and asks all the people who have elected him to go to Kansas and show their support. Everyone at the election headquarters decides to board their bus that night and join this pilgrimage to Kansas. Duncan, always insecure, always wondering about what Jimmy will think and what will happen to their relationship, knows that going to Kansas is the right thing to do. It's the once in a lifetime opportunity to help write history, and he decides to board the bus despite his parents' disapproval. However, the trip proves to be more challenging than he thought. Duncan and Jimmy's relationship seems strained. Their friend Keisha finds out that her girlfriend, Mira, was having an affair with another girl in the group. And when the group arrives in Topeka, Kansas, they have to endure the insults and vicious attacks of the Decents (the supporters of the opposition party). They camp out in the center of town, along with more than half a million other people, with not much food, only a few accommodations, and no quick resolution in sight. Will it be worth it? Will justice prevail? When I pick up a book by David Levithan, certain things are a given. First, I know it's going to be well written. From a little poem, to a presidential speech, to a sex scene, Levithan proves once again with WIDE AWAKE that he's a talented writer and has a great deal of imagination. This entertaining novel, full of interesting characters, is a combination of a fun parody of good versus evil, and a love story. Reviewed by: Christian C.