WIDE AWAKE

As if the gaytopic world he created for Boy Meets Boy (2003) wasn’t radical enough, the setting in this protest-song/call-to-political-action/romance reaches even further into a near-magical realm where tolerance reigns supreme. Here, readers meet thoughtful, 16-year-old Duncan and his fearless, multi-racial boyfriend Jimmy at the threshold of a new political era where the first gay Jewish president of the U.S. has just been elected. When a recount in Kansas calls the victory into question, Duncan, Jimmy and a colorful troupe of friends and allies travel across the country to rally support. There’s no question as to the nature of Levithan’s agenda, but he avoids the risk of didacticism by balancing his hilariously unapologetic one-track bandwagon of a plot with a dedicated and eclectic assortment of fully fleshed characters from all walks of life. With wide-eyed optimism, he connects their unique stories to the very sweet and very real romance between Duncan and Jimmy into a cohesive, eye-opening journey packed with enough humorous, button-pushing, acoustic-guitar strumming satire to keep readers laughing, but with enough political wallop to fill them with urgency, hope and inspiration. (Fiction. YA)