Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

Geography Club

Brent Hartinger

Russel Middlebrook is convinced he’s the only gay kid at Goodkind High School.

Then his online gay chat buddy turns out to be none other than Kevin, the popular but closeted star of the school’s baseball team. Soon Russel meets other gay students, too. There’s his best friend Min, who reveals that she is bisexual, and her soccer–playing girlfriend Terese. Then there’s Terese’s politically active friend, Ike.

But how can kids this diverse get together without drawing attention to themselves?

‘We just choose a club that’s so boring, nobody in their right mind would ever in a million years join it. We could call it Geography Club!’

Brent Hartinger’s debut novel is a fast–paced, funny, and trenchant portrait of contemporary teenagers who may not learn any actual geography in their latest club, but who learn plenty about the treacherous social terrain of high school and the even more dangerous landscape of the human heart.

Ages 13+

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From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up-Russel Middlebrook is a sophomore at Goodkind High School. He has a secret crush on a baseball jock, Kevin Land, and soon discovers that Kevin is also gay. The boys become friendly outside of school and set up the ‘Geography Club’ with three other gay students, one of whom is Russel’s closest friend, Min. The club members relish the opportunity to discuss their lives and to relate to one another openly and honestly. Eventually, however, intense peer pressure and insecurity take their toll. Russel’s relationship with Kevin ends, but the ‘Geography Club’ becomes the ‘Goodkind High School Gay-Straight-Bisexual Alliance,’ and the protagonist gains new insight into himself and his place in the world. Hartinger has written a compelling look at the high school scene and the serious consequences of being ‘different.’ The plot never falters. Dialogue flows smoothly and is always completely believable, and the occasional use of profanity adds to the realism of the story. Characterization is excellent, with all of the teens emerging as likable but flawed individuals caught in a situation that few young adults could handle with maturity. This author has something to say here, and his message is potent and effective in its delivery. Many teens, both gay and straight, should find this novel intriguing.

Robert Gray, East Central Regional Library, Cambridge, MN

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-12. Russel is gay, and he knows he better keep it secret, or he’ll be a total outcast in his small-town high school. But then he discovers that there are others like him–including Min, his longtime best friend, and her lesbian lover, as well as gorgeous, popular jock star Kevin. Seven of them form a support group (the ‘Geography Club’ is their cover-up name), and for a short time, life is blissful. Russel has friends with whom he can be himself, and he also makes love with Kevin. Then things fall apart. Russel refuses to have sex with a girl, and word gets out that he’s gay. Kevin can’t come out, so he and Russel break up. Things are settled a little too neatly in the end, but there’s no sermonizing. With honest talk of love and cruelty, friendship and betrayal, it’s Russel’s realistic, funny, contemporary narrative that makes this first novel special. The dialogue is right on; so is the high-school cafeteria; so is the prejudice. Booktalk this. Hazel Rochman

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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