''Election'' is a

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

novel by

Tom Perrotta Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

about a high school history teacher who attempts to sabotage a manipulative, ambitious girl's campaign to become school president. The novel was adapted into a film of the same title. Shooting occurred in 1997, prior to publication, but the film was not released until 1999.

Synopsis

In 1992, amidst the U.S. Presidential Elections that year, students at Winwood High in suburban New Jersey are preparing to vote for their school president.

Tracy Flick Tracy Enid Flick is a fictional character who is the subject of the 1998 novel ''Election'' by Tom Perrotta and portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the 1999 film adaptation of the same title. She is a smart, ambitious high school student whose qu ...

is unpopular with her peers, but is extremely ambitious and intelligent. A year prior to the election, she is groomed by Mr. Dexter, her yearbook supervisor, and they have a brief sexual relationship. After Tracy tells her mother, her mother informs the school and consequently his career and marriage both end. One of Tracy's current teachers, James "Jim" McAllister (known as "Mr. M." to his students) learns that Tracy is taking part in the election. Feeling that Tracy needs to be taken down a notch, Mr. M prompts Paul Warren (a student of whom he approves) to run against her. In turn, Paul's outcast lesbian sister, Tammy, begins a reckless campaign to be school president in retaliation against her ex-girlfriend Lisa who is now dating Paul. Mr. M ultimately loses his job as a teacher when it is found that he has sabotaged the election by pocketing Tracy's winning votes, falsely making Paul the winner of the presidency. Mr. M ends up working at a car dealership, while Tracy goes on to attend Georgetown University.

Reception

The novel was a moderate success and received critical praise. The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' called it a "darkly eerie and winning new novel", and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that the novel "provides gratifyingly exact and telling portraits of the kids themselves. Solid plotting guarantees that the reader really does want to learn who wins when the ballots are finally counted."

Sequel

A sequel, '' Tracy Flick Can't Win'', was published on June 7, 2022.

References

1998 American novels American comedy novels Novels about elections American novels adapted into films Novels by Tom Perrotta Novels set in New Jersey Fiction set in 1992 Novels set in high schools and secondary schools Novels about academic scandals {{1990s-novel-stub