GEOGRAPHY CLUB by Brent Hartinger
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 2/1/04
Publisher: HarperTempest
Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
Rating: 5 Stars
Russel Middlebrook is pretty sure that he's gay. After all, he's not attracted to girls, and he spends every day after gym
class studiously avoiding the other half-naked guys in the locker room. He's never had an actual experience with another
guy, though, so maybe the attraction he feels toward them is something he'll outgrow--or maybe not.
While surfing the Internet one night, he finds chat rooms for different towns and cities, where you can talk to other people
who are also gay. And amazingly enough, there's a boy he meets with the name GayTeen--who not only lives in his town,
but also attends his high school. Another gay boy, in his very own school? There's no way that could be true--especially
when he finds out that the kid with the handle GayTeen is none other than Kevin Land, star of the baseball team, one of the
most popular guys in school.
As Kevin and Russel get to know one another, outside of school and hidden away from prying eyes, they realize that there's
no way for them to be together inside school walls. The same is true for Russel's friends Min and Terese, who although
they claim to just be really close friends, are actually in love. So along with a few others, including Gunnar, who is straight,
and Brian Bund, the loser of Goodkind High School, the boys form The Geography Club. After all, no one else is going to
want to join such a boring club--especially if they knew it was just a front for a gay/lesbian school group.
As events at school heat up, with Brian eventually being outed as gay even though he's not, Russel, Kevin, and their friends
will have to learn what's most important in life. And that sometimes, no matter how much you might wish for things to be
out in the open, you're just not ready.
GEOGRAPHY CLUB is a great, quick read from author Brent Hartinger, about the ups and downs of daily high school
life, and the struggle to find one's identity.
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 2/1/04
Publisher: HarperTempest
Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"
Rating: 5 Stars
Russel Middlebrook is pretty sure that he's gay. After all, he's not attracted to girls, and he spends every day after gym
class studiously avoiding the other half-naked guys in the locker room. He's never had an actual experience with another
guy, though, so maybe the attraction he feels toward them is something he'll outgrow--or maybe not.
While surfing the Internet one night, he finds chat rooms for different towns and cities, where you can talk to other people
who are also gay. And amazingly enough, there's a boy he meets with the name GayTeen--who not only lives in his town,
but also attends his high school. Another gay boy, in his very own school? There's no way that could be true--especially
when he finds out that the kid with the handle GayTeen is none other than Kevin Land, star of the baseball team, one of the
most popular guys in school.
As Kevin and Russel get to know one another, outside of school and hidden away from prying eyes, they realize that there's
no way for them to be together inside school walls. The same is true for Russel's friends Min and Terese, who although
they claim to just be really close friends, are actually in love. So along with a few others, including Gunnar, who is straight,
and Brian Bund, the loser of Goodkind High School, the boys form The Geography Club. After all, no one else is going to
want to join such a boring club--especially if they knew it was just a front for a gay/lesbian school group.
As events at school heat up, with Brian eventually being outed as gay even though he's not, Russel, Kevin, and their friends
will have to learn what's most important in life. And that sometimes, no matter how much you might wish for things to be
out in the open, you're just not ready.
GEOGRAPHY CLUB is a great, quick read from author Brent Hartinger, about the ups and downs of daily high school
life, and the struggle to find one's identity.
Geography Club
by Brent Hartinger
by Brent Hartinger