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.

Lizard Radio--"Life is about ambiguity" OR "The Lizard People were just a red herring!"

Title: Lizard Radio

Author: Pat Schmatz


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Kivali is sent to CropCamp, a place where the SayFree government sends teenagers go to become productive adult members of society.  Gender-neutral Kivali (nicknamed Lizard) feels different from the other campers, but she knows she must either try to fit in or accept her place as an outcast, which would send her to Blight, a government-sanctioned area for criminals and other non-conforming citizens.  Lizard also wonders: was she sent here from another planet?

What I think (in 250 words or fewer): At the beginning of Lizard Radio, I thought of Scott Westfeld's Uglies because slang was used immediately by the main characters and readers had to figure it out as they read, such as mealio (cafeteria), cleezies (chores), and jazzing (messing around).  Another similarity to the Uglies dystopia was when teenagers came of age, they would be controlled by the government: Uglies with plastic (and brain) surgery and CropCampers with the kickshaw.