When Dean Arnault’s mother decided to run for president, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone, least of all her son. But that doesn’t mean Dean was ready for the public scrutiny or the 24-hour news cycle that comes along with it. As far as everyone know, Dean is button-down shirt wearing, church-going, straight-A high school student. Yet no one knows who Dean really is–that is until Dean meets Dre Rosario. Finally, there’s someone in Dean’s life who actually understands him. The only problem is that Dre is the son of the Democratic opposition.
But when Dean and Dre find themselves locked together in the green room before the start of the first debate, they’re surprised at their instant connection. And as chance meetings on the campaign trail become less left to chance, their friendship quickly becomes the deepest connection either of the boys have ever known. But if it wasn’t hard enough being on opposite sides of the aisle, a shady third-party candidate suddenly claims to have pictures that will change everything–pictures that could cause Dean and Dre’s worlds to fall apart.
It’s a new modern-day, star-crossed romance about what it really means to love your country–and most importantly yourself–from acclaimed author Shaun David Hutchinson.
Signed copies available from Third Place Books!
A Junior Library Guild Selection
★ “”While the joyful love story is front and center, Hutchinson’s deft handling of his characters provides a perfect—and surprisingly subtle—vehicle for relating the inner journeys of queer and questioning teens, most notably Dean’s exploration of his place on the asexual spectrum. Charming, humorous, nicely paced, and never dull, this timely romance will appeal beyond its genre—a must for all collections.”
– Booklist Starred Review
“Two likable characters in a love-against-the-odds story that effectively takes up the well-timed issue of how to love people whose beliefs one doesn’t share.”
– Publishers Weekly
The State of Us contains the following:
