Election: a novel

A suburban New Jersey high school teacher confronts a student body election gone haywire, in this darkly comic novel by the author of The Wishbones. Who really cares who gets elected president of Winwood High School? Nobody -- except Tracy Flick. Tracy's one of those students of boundless energy and ambition who somehow find the time to do everything -- edit the school paper and yearbook, star in the musical, sleep with her favorite teacher. Tracy's heart is set on becoming president of Winwood, and what Tracy wants, Tracy gets. What's more, her classmates seem to agree. With weks to go before election day, her victory is nearly a foregone conclusion. And that's just the broblem, according to Mr. M, a.k.a. Jim McAllister, faculty advisory to the Student Government Association and a popular Winwood history teacher. In the name of democracy -- not to mention a simmering grudge against Tracy Flick -- Mr. M recruits the perfect opposition candidate. Paul Warren is a golden boy, a football hero with a brain and a heart, eager to bulk up his meager résumé. But the clear-cut two-way race is muddled when Paul's younger sister unexpectedly enters the competition. Running on a platform of apathy, Tammy Warren is an anonymous sophomore, struggling wih her sexuality and mourning the defection of her best friend, Lisa, who has abandoned their friendship to become Pauls campaing manager and girlfriend. As Winwood High experiences election fever, Mr. M is distracted by a sudden attraction to his wife's best friend. The two dramas he has created -- one personal and private, the other public and political -- unfurl simultaneously, with all the players sharing in a life-altering conclusion. Part satire, part soap opers, Election is an uncommon look at an ordinary Americn high school, and the extraordinary people who inhabit it.