''Tracy Flick Can't Win'' is a 2022 novel by American author

Tom Perrotta Thomas R. Perrotta (born August 13, 1961) is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels ''Election'' (1998) and '' Little Children'' (2004), both of which were made into critically acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated films. Pe ...

. It was published by Scribner and is a sequel to the 1998 novel ''

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

''. In the

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

of the 2022 novel, Tracy Flick is voiced by

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

. A film adaptation is in works at

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

with

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

set to reprise her role as Tracy and

Alexander Payne Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is noted for his satire, satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne has received List of awards and nominations rec ...

set to direct.

Synopsis

In the book, it is revealed that Tracy started law school, but had to drop out to tend to her mother, who became sick with multiple sclerosis. As a law student, Tracy also became pregnant during an affair with a professor named Daniel, and opted not to have an abortion per her mother's request. Tracy then became a substitute teacher, and eventually became vice principal of her high school. When the position of school principal came open, she found herself forced to maneuver through various political tides in her effort to obtain the position. Although school board members planned to give the job to a former football coach, in the aftermath of a shooting at the school, they end up giving Tracy the promotion.

Film adaptation

A few months after the book's release, a film adaptation was announced for

as a sequel to the 1999 ''Election'' film, with

reprising her role as Tracy and producing under her Hello Sunshine banner,

returning to direct, and Payne and Jim Taylor returning to write. A year later, while promoting ''

The Holdovers ''The Holdovers'' is a 2023 American Christmas comedy drama film directed by Alexander Payne, written by David Hemingson, and starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa. Set in 1970, it tells the story of a strict classics ...

'' (2023), Payne reiterated interest in the project, but would like to pursue other projects first. Payne said that he wants to make a loose adaptation of the novel with Taylor that included Broderick's Jim McAllister character, as well as divert from the high school setting of the novel, attributing to his aversion to:

References

{{reflist 2022 American novels Novels by Tom Perrotta Charles Scribner's Sons books Sequel novels