Wide Awake (novel)
Encyclopedia
Wide Awake is a speculative fiction novel by David Levithan
set in the near future, after fictitious events such as The Greater Depression (aka The Debt, Deficit, and Fuel Depression), the establishment of Worldwide Health Care, and The Reign of Fear, which included The War to End All Wars.
Duncan is the gay Jewish protagonist of the story. He is in a serious relationship with Jimmy Jones.
Keisha is an African-American girl who is caught in a love triangle between Mira and Sara.
Janna is a Jesus Freak who is best friends with Mandy. Her parents were involved with the Jesus Revolution from the start.
Mandy is a Jesus Freak who is best friends with Janna. Her family were nonbelievers until, while her father was out of work and her mother was undergoing treatment for cancer, they attended church with Mandy's aunt.
Jesse is the son of Decent parents. He antagonizes the students who support Stein's campaign.
Cathy is a former friend of Janna and Mandy's. She became a Decent and changed her name to Mary Catherine, and broke off all further contact with her former friends.
Stein is the gay Jewish candidate for President of the United States. He has a forty-five year old husband, Ron, and two children, Jeffrey and Jess. His running mate is Alice Martinez. It's possible that Stein is based on Gertrude Stein
, a real-life gay Jew who was a writer.
Mr. Farnsworth is one of the teachers at Duncan's school. He warns Duncan not to provoke Mr. Davis in class.
Mr. Davis is a Decent teacher at Duncan's school. He is an Iraq War re-enactor
.
Ms. Kaye is the sixty-five year old librarian at Duncan's school. She supports the Stein/Martinez campaign.
Holy Ghostwriter is a Jesus Revolution pop act. Songs include "I Freak Out For Jesus".
(and Jewish) president. Alongside running mate Alice Martinez, Stein won a tight race by the mere margin of 1,000 Kansas
votes, signalling a watershed for progressive politics, which take the limelight for the first time in decades.
Although the lives of American homosexuals are drastically improved even before Stein's election, and the country is in the main far more liberal, it remains divided along acute political lines: as Hoffman notes, "the pendulum has merely swung slightly to the left, thanks to voters fed up with economic inequality, ongoing health crises and a politically motivated 'War to End All Wars' against 'extremists everywhere.'"
The novel's focus, however, is on the personal impact of the election on a teenager named Duncan, who is also Jewish and openly gay. Although too young to vote, he is a strong supporter of Stein; thus, when the conservative governor demands a recount, and Stein's followers are prevailed upon to gather in support, he finds himself in a dilemma between his parents, who want him to stay home, and his politically passionate boyfriend, who demands that he stand up for what he believes in.
's The Boys on the Rock
, although he noted dissimilarities that were far more conspicuous: "Just 22 years separate these books, but the worlds they inhabit seem impossibly distant." For one thing, whereas The Boys on the Rock is set in the past, Wide Awake looks to the near future, "likely a couple of decades from now."
Hoffman was not entirely impressed, though:
"But," he noted, "if minor details ring false, the major elements of Wide Awake seem essentially plausible. Levithan outlines a world of new possibilities for gay Americans, without positing a utopia
where homophobia
has vanished and the entire country has changed political orientation."
. "In David Levithan's young-adult novel Wide Awake, that old slogan gains new life. And the reverse is also true: In Wide Awake, the political is personal in unprecedented ways."
He went on to observe that, whereas in Fox's The Boys on the Rock, the main political character was in the eyes of the protagonist only a politician, "Duncan sees in Stein a reflection of himself. If Stein wins, Duncan shares the victory as a gay Jew who can, at last, truly imagine becoming president one day."
David Levithan
David Levithan is an American young-adult fiction editor and award-winning author. His first book, Boy Meets Boy, was published in 2003...
set in the near future, after fictitious events such as The Greater Depression (aka The Debt, Deficit, and Fuel Depression), the establishment of Worldwide Health Care, and The Reign of Fear, which included The War to End All Wars.
Duncan Weiss
Duncan is the gay Jewish protagonist of the story. He is in a serious relationship with Jimmy Jones.
Keisha
Keisha is an African-American girl who is caught in a love triangle between Mira and Sara.
Janna
Janna is a Jesus Freak who is best friends with Mandy. Her parents were involved with the Jesus Revolution from the start.
Mandy
Mandy is a Jesus Freak who is best friends with Janna. Her family were nonbelievers until, while her father was out of work and her mother was undergoing treatment for cancer, they attended church with Mandy's aunt.
Jesse Marin
Jesse is the son of Decent parents. He antagonizes the students who support Stein's campaign.
Mary Catherine
Cathy is a former friend of Janna and Mandy's. She became a Decent and changed her name to Mary Catherine, and broke off all further contact with her former friends.
Abraham Stein
Stein is the gay Jewish candidate for President of the United States. He has a forty-five year old husband, Ron, and two children, Jeffrey and Jess. His running mate is Alice Martinez. It's possible that Stein is based on Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
, a real-life gay Jew who was a writer.
Mr. Farnsworth
Mr. Farnsworth is one of the teachers at Duncan's school. He warns Duncan not to provoke Mr. Davis in class.
Mr. Davis
Mr. Davis is a Decent teacher at Duncan's school. He is an Iraq War re-enactor
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
.
Ms. Kaye
Ms. Kaye is the sixty-five year old librarian at Duncan's school. She supports the Stein/Martinez campaign.
Holy Ghostwriter
Holy Ghostwriter is a Jesus Revolution pop act. Songs include "I Freak Out For Jesus".
Pre-Wide Awake
- 9/11.
- The Greater Depression (aka The Debt, Deficit, and Fuel Depression) transpired when, after the American government began spending more and landed itself further in debt, foreign countries started asking for repayment: prices started inflating rapidly, causing a depressionDepression (economics)In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen by some economists as part of the modern business cycle....
even greater than that of the 1930sGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. - The Andreas Quake occurred on 3/12 and helped to inspire the Jesus Revolution (see below).
- Hurricane Wanda occurred on 7/23 and also helped to inspire the Jesus Revolution.
- The Reign of Fear began when the President decided to end the Greater Depression by launching The War to End All Wars, which led to the tragic events of 4/5, unexplained to readers. The Decent party was established, and members created the Denial Education program. The Opus Dei Trials took place.
- The Prada Riots took place when The War to End All Wars proved ineffective, and citizens began to protest that some people remained rich while the rest were yet struggling.
- Worldwide Health Care has been established to combat the monopoly of drug companies over whole dying nations.
- The Jesus Revolution, described by critic Wayne Hoffman, author of Hard, as "Levithan's most ingenious creation", is a Christian movement promoting Jesus Christ as a messenger who preached loveLoveLove is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
and peacePeacePeace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
as opposed to violenceViolenceViolence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
and intoleranceTolerationToleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
. It encourages many of the young faithful to vote, and is thus decisive in turning the election in Stein's favour. - AIDS is a thing of the past.
- The United States Supreme Court has affirmed the civil rightsCivil rightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
of homosexuals, including marriageMarriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
.
Wide Awake
The novel opens with the revelation that the United States has just elected into power Abe Stein, its first openly gayGay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
(and Jewish) president. Alongside running mate Alice Martinez, Stein won a tight race by the mere margin of 1,000 Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
votes, signalling a watershed for progressive politics, which take the limelight for the first time in decades.
Although the lives of American homosexuals are drastically improved even before Stein's election, and the country is in the main far more liberal, it remains divided along acute political lines: as Hoffman notes, "the pendulum has merely swung slightly to the left, thanks to voters fed up with economic inequality, ongoing health crises and a politically motivated 'War to End All Wars' against 'extremists everywhere.'"
The novel's focus, however, is on the personal impact of the election on a teenager named Duncan, who is also Jewish and openly gay. Although too young to vote, he is a strong supporter of Stein; thus, when the conservative governor demands a recount, and Stein's followers are prevailed upon to gather in support, he finds himself in a dilemma between his parents, who want him to stay home, and his politically passionate boyfriend, who demands that he stand up for what he believes in.
Reception
Wide Awake was generally well received. Hoffman praised in particular its skilful mingling of the political with the personal, going so far as to draw comparisons with John FoxJohn Fox (writer)
John Fox was an American novelist and short-story writer. His most famous, successful and influential novel, The Boys on the Rock, detailed the coming out and falling in love of a homosexual teenage swimmer by the name of Billy Connors.Fox was born in the Pelham Bay area of the Bronx and...
's The Boys on the Rock
The Boys on the Rock
The Boys on the Rock is a short debut novel by John Fox which details the coming out and falling in love of a gay sixteen-year-old swimmer, nomine Billy Connors, who narrates the story in the first person...
, although he noted dissimilarities that were far more conspicuous: "Just 22 years separate these books, but the worlds they inhabit seem impossibly distant." For one thing, whereas The Boys on the Rock is set in the past, Wide Awake looks to the near future, "likely a couple of decades from now."
Hoffman was not entirely impressed, though:
Predicting trends — particularly regarding teenagers' fashions and slangSlangSlang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
— is difficult, and Levithan sometimes stumbles. It's hard to imagine even politically aware teens flocking to a "non-mallShopping mallA shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
," where anti-consumerConsumerConsumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
s shop for items they'd like to buy, only to forgo those purchases and donate to charityCharity (practice)The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...
the cash they could have spent on themselves. And it's hard to imagine anyone actually saying, "There's nothing like a little non-shoppingShoppingShopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
to get your mind back to happyzoom."
"But," he noted, "if minor details ring false, the major elements of Wide Awake seem essentially plausible. Levithan outlines a world of new possibilities for gay Americans, without positing a utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
where homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
has vanished and the entire country has changed political orientation."
Interpretation
"Progressive activists have long asserted that the personal is political," wrote Hoffman in his review for The Washington PostThe Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. "In David Levithan's young-adult novel Wide Awake, that old slogan gains new life. And the reverse is also true: In Wide Awake, the political is personal in unprecedented ways."
He went on to observe that, whereas in Fox's The Boys on the Rock, the main political character was in the eyes of the protagonist only a politician, "Duncan sees in Stein a reflection of himself. If Stein wins, Duncan shares the victory as a gay Jew who can, at last, truly imagine becoming president one day."