Customer Reviews

Geography Club

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is geared toward young adults (high school age), but I feel it's a book all ages can enjoy and benefit from, especially parents who want to better understand their gay son or daughter, and the difficulties they face while in high school.

Russel is convinced he's the only gay student at GoodKind High until his online gay-chat buddy turns out to be another student, Kevin, who is the popular closeted star baseball player of the school. Soon Russel learns his best female friend, Min, and her girlfriend, Therese, and another student called Ike, are also gay. They now have to figure out how they can all get together for talks without drawing attention to themselves. This leads them to form a club called "Geography Club". Is the "Geography Club" the answer to their problems, or will peer pressure, insecurities, unexpected members and other events, take a toll on their developing friendship, and their new club.

Hartinger has written a very realistic, fast-paced story filled with love, hope, humor, and sadness that will touch anyone's heart. These young students are individuals who are mature beyond their years. The author has done a brilliant job in getting his message across by developing characters that are very believable. We need more sensitive, intelligent writing like this that can help all young people deal with being different, especially at a time when there are so many other pressures for them to bear. It's rough to be young in today's world. This is a book I recommend for all. Please don't miss this one!

Joe Hanssen

I am a 17 year gay guy from ohio and let me say, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I felt and feel like I AM the character of Russell in the book, I've gone through so many of the things he has. I even cried after reading the sequel after this one because it made me look at my own situation and how hard it is to be gay and love someone who might never talk to you again if they knew. I feel like this book deserves several awards, it certainly had a touch to me.

Russel Middlebrook is a 16 year old high school sophomore hiding a big secret: he's gay. He keeps a low profile because he doesn't want to be treated like the school outcast and scapegoat Brian Bund upon whom all manner of dirty tricks and teenage cruelties are visited. Instead, Russel spends his time with Gunnar and Min, a guy and girl known for their brains, but who are also "occasional visitors to the border region of high school respectability" (p. 6). Russel is not eager to leave that border. Ever.

By a fluke Russel learns that another student is also gay, and he embarks upon that universally heady, intense journey where falling in love seems oh-so-right. He joins the baseball team to be with his boyfriend-even hits a home run-and suddenly he's living in the Land of the Popular. But he also meets some other kids who are gay and lonely. They have an inspiration to start a gay/lesbian support group, but in order to keep out those who would mock and exile them, they call it Geography Club. Unfortunately, the secret does not stay confidential, and the fallout is more than Russel thinks he can bear. Will he choose to take the coward's way out? Or can he stand up to the ignorant people all around?

With a light touch and a sense of humor, Hartinger tells a very serious story, one that is being played out in high schools across the country. With unerring accuracy, he depicts the isolation and fear first of one young man, then of a small group, and he reveals the courage and support it takes for any gay or lesbian high school student to stand up to the crowd. By the end of this novel, I had tears in my eyes. The story is moving, the characters are classic, and the discoveries Russel makes are ones that both high schoolers and adults should all learn. Highly recommended.

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 ones identity.

When I picked this book up off the shelf at a bookstore in Boston, I expected nothing special. I was looking for an edgy teen novel and I just coulnd't find one that day. I looked at this book, deciding if it didn't sound interesting, I'd just leave. I read the front flap and fell in love. This way the edgy novel I had been looking for. Homosexuality in a teen book seems to be frowned upon lately. People say younger teens aren't old enough to handle that kind of thing. That is totally wrong. Not only is the main character gay, his best friend is bisexual. This correctly portrays the main character's relationships with his friends during high school. I loved it. It's a quick read, but worth it. If you were ever homophobic, it will make you regret it, or at least I think so.

There are so many things to like about this book. It's a fast-paced, well-written story that isn't a downer to read. There is lots of humor, but plenty of drama, and none of the characters are perfect. I like that there are almost no adults in the book as I believe that adults and kids exist in parallel worlds that do overlap, but neither understands what is really happening in the other. I also love Russel and wonder how much he is like Mr. Hartinger. In fact, I almost feel as if I know the author through the book and think he must be an interesting fellow.

I'm glad the book isn't full of doom and gloom like so many gay novels. It's refreshing to read about relatively happy, well-adjusted gay kids, and I was especially glad Russel simply accepted he was gay and didn't have to come to terms with it. You can tell from the book that the author really likes and identifies with teenagers. YA fiction is truly some of the best writing today and this is a welcome addition to the genre. I hope Mr. Hartinger has more books in the works and since I'm really a huge fan of fantasy, I would love to see a fantasy book with a gay character. How about it, Mr. Hartinger?

I probably should have guessed by the size of the book (it'll almost fit in your pocket) and the title that the subject matter was geared primarily at teens..

That said, it was a very light read (I finished it in just over an hour and a half) but a cute story. My only major gripe was that the "I'm gay, everyone's gay!" approach to the main characters was a bit too easy.. and the initial meeting of the main character and the jock in a chat room was rather implausible, (if you're a terribly closeted jock, why would you go meet someone who goes to your own high school 5 minutes into a chatroom conversation?) but nonetheless it was a cute, light, easy-to-read story.

Also recommend Bart Yates' "Leave Myself Behind" ..

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger is the story of Russell Middlebrook, a gay 16 year old, who is negotiating the dog-eat-dog world of high school popularity. He is also firmly and solidly in the closet at the beginning of this book and over the course of the novel the reader explores the pitfalls, dangers, and excitements of being a high schooler and being gay. Hartinger locates Russell's' story in the social borderlands; he is not super popular nor is he reviled, and he is smart and snarky, but very insecure. When rumors of a gay kid and a gay club start to swirl at Goodkind High, Russell is finally starting to feel good about himself and rise up the popularity ranks thanks to the influence of his closeted jock boyfriend. This leaves Russell to make difficult decisions that will resonate with any reader who feels or felt like an outsider in high school.

The story is told in two parts, the first focusing on Russell's alienation as he thinks that he is the only gay kid at his high school, and the second on the choices he has to make to preserve his charade of straightness. He joins in the jocks in making fun of the schools most unpopular kid, and the weight of doing so demonstrates the burden of popularity, and motivates Russell to stop hiding and come out publicly to make it right.

The Geography Club itself is a brilliant red herring on Hartinger's part, a club designed by its members to purposely be too boring for any one to actually want to join, so the few gay kids at Goodkind can discuss their lives openly and honestly. Once Russell starts coming out, he learns that he is no longer alone, providing the character with some much-needed reassurance, and also his own place in the high school social web, even if that place is a secret. The entire concept highlights the importance of Gay Straight Alliances for high school students.

Some readers may find themselves overwhelmed by the fast pace, numerous side characters and short side plots. On the other hand, this almost frenzied quality is what gives Geography Club such cultural authenticity. These characters are trying to negotiate the treacheries of high school, with its rampant gossip, various teenage tribes and strict social norms. The Geography Club finds itself in a web of secrets, lies, relationships, and sexual identities that seems real for those who have attended a public school. In the end, Geography Club is a compelling story that highlights the emotional difficulties of being gay, but achieves it in a way that even straight kids will relate to.

Personally, I wish that I had this book when I was 15. There was nothing out there for gay folks at ALL, and I over identify with Min (except for the Asian part). Thanks Brent.

I am a 22 year old college student and have an obsession with YA fiction. I don't really understand it either, but I think they're really great stories to tell, regardless of what age you are. In the last year I have been focusing mainly on gay fiction. Reading things like the "Rainbow Boys" series, and "Hero," among several others, I decided to pick up "Geography Club" because of how well reviewed it had been.
Let me tell you: I think I see what Hartinger was going for, but he didn't really do a very good job. I was constantly waiting for a moment where the story went somewhere or I could see some extended period of conflict. However, it felt safe, much like a half hour sitcom where, even when faced with adversity, you never feel any imminent danger for any of the characters. You knew everything would turn out all right. My other major complaint was that the kids felt extremely unrealistic. It wasn't so long ago that I was the same age of the characters, and they read more like how an adult thinks a teenager would be at that age. Everything became incredibly too easy. For example with the story, I thought it was weird that this closeted, popular jock would meet someone on the internet that he might know from school. That was one of the first issues I had.
I don't see the same thing I guess that other people did. I was really disappointed in this book.

Most of the characters in this book don't break out of their stereotypical niches. Min, the best friend, is smart and compassionate all the way through, never faltering. The jocks at the jock table are crude and cruel. The characters who are supposed to change do it in predictable ways. The main character goes from not speaking out to speaking out, and the outcast turns out to be a good guy. No surprises.

That said, the writing is smooth and the main character is easy to identify with in his uncertainty. It's a fast read that never makes you wince, despite the overabundance of coincidences.

I would recommend this book for grades 6 to 8, not for high school. The issues and conflicts (scandal over the health teacher putting a condom on a cucumber, GASP!) will be a retread for high school readers.