Wide Awake Now

Gr 10 Up–Levithan here reimagines his 2006 novel Wide Awake, with the political contention of the 2016 and 2020 elections. It is 2024 and the first gay, Jewish man, Abraham Stein, has been elected to the presidency. High school student Duncan, his boyfriend Jimmy, and their collection of friends and campaigners are elated until the governor of Kansas contests the election, stating foul play at the ballot box. President-elect Stein encourages supporters to participate in a nonviolent protest in Kansas, which Duncan and friends decide to attend. Throughout the political happenings, Duncan and Jimmy ponder the state and future of their relationship as well as how this political election is impacting their lives and those around them. While told from the viewpoint of Duncan, the perspectives of Christians (both for and against the new President-elect), members of the LGBTQIA+ community, older generations, and the opposition party are all mentioned in some way. In the back matter, Leviathan writes that he included factual elements of the events of the past 20 years, such as the January 6th insurrection, in creating the events of the fictional election. A sexual encounter between Duncan and Jimmy, while loving and consensual, will make this a difficult purchase in some school library collections.