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Overall Summary
A young man, Henry Denton, has to deal with the suicide of his boyfriend. He is abducted by aliens and told that he has the power to save humanity. He must decide whether or not to push a big red button in order to do so. Themes include grief, guilt, loss, love, acceptance, sacrifice and alienation.
The novel is narrated by 15-year-old Henry Denton. He and his boyfriend Jesse Franklin recently committed suicide, but the reason for their suicide was not known. Henry blamed himself for it because he felt like he could have done something to prevent it from happening. Henry also blames himself for his father’s absence in his life, since they hardly ever talk since his parents divorced years ago. Henry lives with Charlie, who dropped out of college and works at a restaurant as a waiter. Nana (Henry’s grandmother) has Alzheimer’s disease and lives with them too.
The story begins with Henry grieving over the death of his son. However, he also has a major dilemma: aliens have been abducting him for years and now they’ve given him an ultimatum. They want Henry to push a big red button that will prevent global extinction or else it’ll happen in the blink of an eye. He only has 144 days to make this decision, so he must act quickly.
Henry is still weighing his options. He’s having trouble at school and home, but he doesn’t want to move back in with his mom because of the distance from Vivian. Diego Vega has recently moved into town from Colorado after a fight with his father, who broke both of his arms and neck. Henry is instantly drawn to him because they share similar experiences; Diego also has a fluid sexuality that makes him attractive to Henry as well.
Meanwhile, Henry continues to have a sexual affair with Marcus, who publicly scorns him every chance he gets. As Henry deals with his grief over Jesse and Nana’s eroding memory, he ponders whether or not to push the red button. Along the way, he asks others what they would do if they were in his position.
As time ticks down, Henry’s sense of responsibility heightens. He is not sure if he wants to continue living, but learns to act selflessly when his brother Charlie gets pregnant with his girlfriend Zooey. Zooey is one of the only people that Henry can talk to about his problems outside of Diego and Henry’s longtime friend Audrey Dorn.
Audrey also feels that Jesse’s death is her fault, and she tries to rekindle the relationship she had with Henry before Jesse died. She implores him: “Don’t look back at your past mistakes; think about what lies ahead.” As time counts down, Henry realizes that there are more important things in life than his personal problems.
Henry continues to ask his friends if they would push the red button. His mother doesn’t care, and Henry is indifferent about it as well. Diego wishes that Henry cared more about saving the world. Charlie and Zooey are in favor of pushing the button, but they get annoyed at how nonchalant Henry is being about it all. These answers give some insight into what Henry thinks; he slowly comes to realize that life isn’t really worth living after all when you think about everything wrong with it.
The novel ends ambiguously, as it is never revealed if Henry pushes the big red button or not. It is clear that he decides to move on with his life and live in the present, rather than dwelling on Jesse’s death. In a way, this is what Audrey had been telling him all along. Diego urges him to “write for the future.”
The end of the novel is open to interpretation. It’s also possible that Henry was abducted by aliens because he experienced grief, depression, isolation and alienation after his brother died. Furthermore, Ms. Faraci offered extra credit for the science project she asked him to do in class, which means it might have been part of an assignment all along.
