Wide Awake--"Both dated and eerily prophetic"

Title: Wide Awake

Author: David Levithan


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer):  In the near future, the first gay and Jewish United States president is elected. The green states have prevailed, with their Jesus Revolution, All Equal Movement, and Great Community.  However, the governor of Kansas is claiming voter fraud and demands a recount of his state.  High school boyfriends Jimmy and Duncan, along the rest of their political group and thousands of others, head to Kansas to protest the governor and support the president-elect.


What I think: While reading Wide Awake, I could only think how difficult it was going to be to write about the book without comparing it to today's political climate.  Goodness knows I do enough complaining about politics, and those of you who know me in real life are either nodding or rolling your eyes (probably both 😉).

Sooooo . . . . I am going to list some of the major events in the book, and you can see how they compare to today's political climate yourself.

Keep in mind that this book was published in 2007 (before Obama's presidency, and 2007 was long enough ago that I am feeling rather old at this moment)


Here are some of the major events in Wide Awake:

1. 9/11 caused politicians to feed on people's fear of nonwhites and non-Christians; this was called "The Reign of Fear"
     
2. Country went into debt (supposedly to bankrupt social programs, which were the scapegoats of everyone who said the country was bad)
     
3. Gas prices were over $10 a gallon, causing "The Greater Depression"
     
4. The president launched "The War to End All Wars" to end the economic downtrend
     
5. In what became known as "the Prada riots," people protested the divide between the country's richest and poorest
     
6. "The Worldwide Healthcare" movement was started to end the drug company's monopoly over nations
     
7. The progressive green states rose up to elect Stein, the first gay and Jewish president (the first female president had come and gone by this time, apparently)
     
8. There were still blue and red parties, but also a yellow party (not sure which had which beliefs)
     
9. The Jesus Revolution, or God Squad, was a name given to the churches who had all banded together to support civil rights "like Jesus would have done"
     
10. The racist, homophobic, minority were part of the "Decent" party and promoted what they called "Denial education"
      
11. Gay people had been given marriage rights years ago
      
12. People had worked to abolish the electoral college, but that amendment didn't pass
      
13. People could eat Everything bars for meals, which even had a Thanksgiving meal flavor (ending with a blueberry dessert like three-course dinner gum Violet Beauregard chews)
      
14. Non-shopping malls exist.  Basically, this means people go shopping, pick out their items, but instead of buying stuff and taking it home, people take the amount of money the items would cost and donate it to a charity.
      
15. A Christian rock group called "Holy Ghostwriters" is popular on mainstream radio
      
16. A politician tells basically the whole country to come to Kansas without considering the consequences of speaking off the cuff like that (hmmmm . . . . are there any politicians today who speak without thinking?  Or TWEET?  I WONDER .  . .)
      

Oops, got off-track towards the end! And I was doing so well. 😎

  

Wide Awake contained some quintessential David-Levithan-world parts, such as Judaism being more of a threat to the Republicans conservatives Decents than the homosexuality; even including a monologue from a character lamenting the fact that his parents kicked him out because:

 "They won't let me be Jewish!  They say it's a phase, but it's not a phase . . .  I told them I'd met other Jews online and, no, they didn't convert me, this was something I wanted to do on my own . . . I met Jimmy, and he says it's cool to be Jewish and I think that's just the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.  I hope he's right because I'm going to do it one way or another because that's who I am and that's what I want and I don't see what the big deal is either " (hardback edition, pgs. 126-128).

There is also a literal "boy named Sue," which pays homage to the Johnny Cash song, but Sue's dad is [spoiler deleted].

I feel ridiculous complaining about parts that I think are unrealistic, but I just can't help but mention that it bothers me that all those people go to Kansas and there are no riots, National Guard appearances, deaths, guns, or annoying TV journalists. 

Plus, where do they all go to the bathroom?  Seriously.  I wonder these things.

This book is on the 2008 Rainbow Book List.


My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): Many parts of this book seem dated or eerily prophetic, and the conflicts are resolved very easily.  I think I am used to more drama in my politics.

Plus, this book was written before everyone and their grandma had a Facebook account, which is a glaring future anachronism.

I think it would be a very different book if Levithan wrote it today.  Maybe he should write an updated version called Woke.


Memorable quotes/passages from the book:

• "Jimmy had already been asked this when he pointed out that the Founding Fathers were far from flawless and that the Constitution and Bill of Rights were best viewed as starter documents, not ends in themselves, or else we'd still have slavery, black men would still be three-fifths citizens, and women wouldn't be able to vote at all.  Mr. Davis viewed this as taking things out of context, but Jimmy insisted it was actually putting them into context" (pg. 16).
• "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 stones 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" (pg. 29).
• "'Shall we get jiggy with it?'
  All the members of my generation looked at one another blankly.
  'After all,' Virgil said, 'who let the dogs out?'
  Dogs?  I didn't see any dogs.
  'Can't touch this!'
  Then, inexplicably, he started to do this jump 'n' thrump move that must've been really big when he was real small.  Flora cranked up the song, and we all started to laugh and scat" (pgs. 54-55).
• "We are going to intervene, because it's our right--if not our duty--as citizens to intervene.  Good doesn't triumph because anybody tells it to.  It triumphs when we push it and carry it and shout it and embrace it until it triumphs.  That's what we're doing here.  That's why we're going" (pg. 102).

Other reviews:  Gay YA and Teenreads


This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.