What it's about (from Goodreads): In the not-too-impossible-to-imagine future, a gay Jewish man has been elected president of the United States. Until the governor of one state decides that some election results in his state are invalid, awarding crucial votes to the other candidate, and his fellow party member. Thus is the inspiration for couple Jimmy and Duncan to lend their support to their candidate by deciding to take part in the rallies and protests. Along the way comes an exploration of their relationship, their politics, and their country, and sometimes, as they learn, it's more about the journey than it is about reaching the destination.
What Goodreads doesn't mention: Jimmy and Duncan are in high school.
What I learned from it: Wow, where to start. This book is beautiful because it takes conventional thought and turns it on its head. For example, I loved that Levithan made Christians the main supporters of gay people and loving all kinds of different people. It's so rarely seen and I often feel that Christians are portrayed negatively in all kinds of media, books not excluded. Janna's idea to give food to the kids of the opposition is wonderful and so Christ-like. I grew up in a quite conservative evangelical Christian home and was even a missionary kid. My entire extended family on both sides are outspoken Christians and I grew up believing very conservative values. As I've grown up I've changed some of my views but this book really challenged me in several ways to inspect my beliefs about loving people and Jesus. Reading this book, I learned (again) that it's hard to do the right thing. I learned that sometimes it's hard to even figure out what the right thing is. But most of all I learned that loving other people - the same way you love yourself - is a good place to start.
If you've read Wide Awake (which you should!), what did you learn? When do you think the United States will have an openly gay or lesbian president?
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