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Geography Club

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

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, what became first of a series about Russel Middlebrook, 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.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 3, 2003
      A closeted gay high school sophomore narrates Hartinger's uneven yet realistic first novel. The story starts out strong, when Russel meets a jock from his school, Kevin, in a gay chat room; their tentative decision to meet and their awkward initial conversation convincingly portray the conflict of wanting to reach out yet being afraid of being found out. Then Russel learns that one of his best friends is bisexual and they form a small support group (called the Geography Club as a cover, since "no high school students in their right minds would ever join that"). Russel begins a relationship with Kevin—but complications arise when another friend, Gunnar, unwittingly sets Russel up with an aggressive girl. Then, a teacher reveals in the school paper that a student approached her about starting a gay support group, making the school buzz over that student's identity. Gunnar's foul-mouthed date comes across as too obnoxious ("That movie was so gay," she says), and some readers may find it difficult to believe that Kevin, with the most at stake, would join the Geography Club. But Hartinger credibly captures high school pressure and intolerance, from the opening scene in the boys' locker room, in which Russel fears being found out, to a painful episode in which an outcast, thought to be the gay student, is humiliated in the school cafeteria. Overall, this novel does a fine job of presenting many of the complex realities of gay teen life, and also what it takes to be a "thoroughly decent" person. Ages 13-up.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 15, 2004
      Gay high school students form a small support group called the Geography Club. According to PW
      , "Overall, this novel does a fine job of presenting many of the complex realities of gay teen life, and also what it takes to be a 'thoroughly decent' person." Ages 13-up.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.5
  • Lexile® Measure:700
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:3

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