Customer Reviews

Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies / Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Brent Hartinger writes great teen novels: they have strong plots with unforeseeable twists; they're filled with clever dialogue and funny one-liners; and most important, they're stocked with good-hearted (though occasionally wrong-headed) characters who remind readers of what they love about their own friends--their brilliance and loyalty, their passion for their beliefs, and their ability to remember one's good points and still catch one's failings.

Hartinger delivers on all these strengths once again in his new novel "Split Screen." It's the third in a series, but it's a sequel with an innovative spin: it tells the same story twice from two points of view, demonstrating that even best friends experience things differently, and that life's big questions--like who to love, and when to be brave--don't always have just one right answer.

The book follows "The Geography Club" and "The Order of the Poison Oak" to tell the stories of high school student Russell Middleton and his circle of cool but less-than-popular friends. In previous books, Russell and his pals formed a gay-straight alliance to make their school a safer, more open place and then managed to survive summer camp with nothing worse than bruised hearts and itchy rashes. "Split Screen" catches up with them in the fall of their junior year as they sign up to work as extras on the set of a horror movie filming right in their hometown.

When read one way, the book tells Russell's story of boyfriend and parent troubles: just as he's anticipating a Thanksgiving visit from his steady guy, his unsteady ex begins trying to win him back, sending Russ into an emotional spin. And to top it off, Russell's parents come unhinged from reason when they (belatedly) find out that he's gay. It's a mess.

But flip the book over, and the same events are told in a different version by Russell's good friend Min, a brainier-than-thou girl who tries to live her life according to staunch principles. She aspires not just to honesty but to forthrightness, and that sort of candor is causing her problems. Min's new girlfriend (who's completely awesome and totally sharp) is set on being two different people: one version for Min and another entirely for her friends at school. It's also a mess.

Hartinger excels at giving Russell and Min distinct voices and at making their similar struggles unique: Russ is pulled more by his heart whereas Min follows her head--he worries most about being misunderstood or hurting someone; she's terrified at her uncertainty when her clear ideals jam up against life's murkier situations.

This novel's greatest strength (from among many) may be that Hartinger gives both his main characters truly perplexing dilemmas. One could see them choosing either way--the old boyfriend or the new, a path of compromise or one of confrontation--and sympathize with the reasons behind the decision. Rather than present his teen readers with simplistic answers, he instead suggests that the act of deciding is itself the main event: Life can't be lived on autopilot, and no one can choose better than the person in the cockpit.

"Split Screen" brings a great deal of fun, but it also digs deep into exactly the sort of questions that teens face as they go about the hard work of growing up. It's a romp with good friends, and it's a book that gives a lot of respect to the right and responsibility of young people to make important choices for themselves.

Recommended for readers ages 12 and older.

I enjoyed this book more than I did "The Order of the Poison Oak", and just slightly less than "The Geography Club" (books that also feature the characters in Split Screen.) The reason why I didn't enjoy it as much as "Geography Club" partly has to do with the original always being one's favorite, but that "Split Screen" wasn't long enough. Yes, we do get two full stories but I'd have been happier with one expanded tale focusing on Russel. I admit, I didn't find Min's story as interesting, but she's never been one of my favorite characters anyhow.

That aside, Hartinger's writing has grown stronger and leaner without sacrificing quality or character development. Plus, the unique aspect of a low-budget zombie film is a fun catalyst and the brief glimpses we get of the filmmaking experience are illuminating. I think most people will enjoy this book, and considering Russel's dilemma with his parents, I'm hoping we get another.

SPLIT SCREEN is composed of two different stories that occur during the same time period. The stories are told by two friends and occur during a few weeks preceding and the week following Thanksgiving while they are working as extras on a movie that is being filmed at a nearby high school. The first story is called ATTACK OF THE SOUL-SUCKING BRAIN ZOMBIES and is told from the perspective of Russel, a gay high school student. Basically what happens is that Russel's ex-boyfriend, Kevin, wants to get back together with him and uses the filming of the movie as a way to try to re-kindle their relationship. Russel has a new boyfriend named Otto that he met during the summer. However, Otto lives hundreds of miles away while Kevin goes to the same school that Russel does. Russel spends the story trying to figure out who he should date. There's also a side story about Russel's parents learning about his sexuality.

The other story is called BRIDE OF THE SOUL-SUCKING BRAIN ZOMBIES and is told from the perspective of Russel's bisexual friend, Min. Min has her own relationship issues with a girl named Leah that she meets on the set of "Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies". She likes Leah and Leah likes her. However, Leah is a popular preppy girl at her school. Leah likes her life, but none of her friends know that she is a lesbian. Her life would be in complete chaos if she would "come out". So, Min struggles with trying to begin a relationship with Leah while struggling to fit in Leah's perfect preppy high school life without giving up her own standards.

The novelty of SPLIT SCREEN lies in the fact that you read one story and then you have to literally flip the book over to read the other story. By doing so, you get a fuller picture of the events that happen.

I had never heard of GEOGRAPHY CLUB or THE ORDER OF THE POISON OAK. In fact, I had never ever of Brent Hartinger and was completely unfamiliar with the types of stories he writes. In fact, the promotional material I had read led me to believe that SPLIT SCREEN was supposed to be a young adult action-mystery novel set on a horror movie set. The promotional literature did mention that one of the characters was gay and another was bisexual, but from what I had gathered their sexuality wasn't going to be a prominent part of the book. That was some of the most misleading promotional material I have ever read because SPLIT SCREEN is definitely NOT an action-mystery story. Instead, it's a teen romance composed of two tales: one about a gay teenage boy and the other about his female bisexual friend. Their sexuality is the focal point of each one of the stories. I knew after reading the first couple of chapters that SPLIT SCREEN wasn't going to be the type of book I was led to believe. However, I have this nasty habit of reading any book I begin all the way to the end. After having finished reading the book, I wish I could give it a glowing review, but I can't do that. Other than the novelty format of having two-books in one as a flip book, SPLIT SCREEN really isn't that different from most other young adult romance books. I found the writing rather ordinary and most of the time the story failed to capture my imagination. The characters I most enjoyed were Russel and Min's other friend, Gunthar, and Min's love interest, Leah. They seemed more realistic to me than the feature characters.

Brent Hartinger has done it again. This is another great book in the Geography Club story line. The book stands alone, but you can get more out of it if you read the first two books in the series, Geography Club, and The Order of the Poinson Oak.

This book is a very interesting book. It is not just one book, but two books in one. The books tells a story of the same time in space, from the viewpoints of two characters. The first one is from Russel, and the second, his best friend Min. You read the first book, and then flip it over to get the second book. You get to see some of the same events, but from the viewpoint of the other character. There is also some things that are revealed when you read the second book.

I found the story to be engrosing, and I couldn't stop reading. The characters are well done, and the wisdom in the book is something to think about. I think that any teen will love this book. There are some twists and turns in the plot that are great, and a few mysteries that are revealed as more that they appear. There is one loose end that doesn't get tied up by the end of the book, and I truely hope that Hartinger writes another book to tie up this loose end. If his is, I eagerly await it.

This book is a definite read for anyone.

Usually I'm not crazy about sequels as it means the author doesn't have any other ideas and ends up repeating themselves. But Hartinger managed to avoid that in The Order of the Poison Oak and he does so again--pretty cleverly--with Split Screen. Not only does he continue to further the stories of Russell, Otto, Kevin, and Min, but he does it by writing two books in one that cover the same period of time from two different points of view--Russell and Min's. Frankly, I've never read anything like it.

Both stories draw you in (read Russell's first), but the second makes you realize that not everything you read before was really the way it seemed. Which is a lot like life.

I guarantee you won't be disappointed. FYI, I know the author but I mean every word I said!

Hartinger has developed a fine set of young-adult characters which he is carrying from book-to-book. He uses their language nicely!

In ATTACK OF THE SOUL-SUCKING BRAIN ZOMBIES, Russel is forced to choose between the guy right at home that he wants, and the guy 500 miles away that he loves. He's also dealing with his parents, who have found out that he's gay and are none too pleased.

When you flip the book over and start reading BRIDE OF THE SOUL-SUCKING BRAIN ZOMBIES, it's Min's story that will have you rapidly flipping pages. When Min meets Leah, she has to decide if this girl, the girl she might be in love with, is worth having a hidden relationship, something Min never wants to do again.

Gunnar and Kevin are two very interesting characters that appear in both stories, which chronicle very different experiences as extras in a weird monster movie. You have to read both stories to find out the whole of the one story; they are different stories, yes, but together they do make up one whole, very good storyline.

Occasionally the writing seemed a little too simple, but the great stories and characters really make up for that. Important issues are addressed admirably in this wonderful book that readers of Hartinger's previous books (especially those featuring this same cast of three-dimensional characters) will love!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Maybe it was the cheesy cover and campy title, or maybe it was the two-for-one gimmick. But as much as I enjoyed "Geography Club" and "The Order of Poison Oak," I approached this latest Brent Hartinger opus with reduced expectations. I should have known better. It didn't take long to realize my error as reveled in this fresh, beautifully written, funny, and yet emotionally moving story that once and for all turned Russel Middlebrook into one of my two all-time favorite juvenile lit main characters. (My other is Beverly Cleary's Leigh Botts. Okay, I'm a pushover for main characters who are wholesome, thoughtful, nice kids.)

The decision to tell the story twice from two points of view proved not a mere gimmick, but a clever way to tell the story most effectively. Hartinger braids three stories together - Min's and Russel's separately, as well as the third story thread of the movie filming, which is common to both of the other two. The redundancies are never annoying and sometimes used for comic effect, such as when Gunnar, who tells the same rather long story in each version, comments "it's the second time in two days that I've told it."

I debated whether to read "Attack" first or "Bride." I was glad I decided to start with "Attack." The motivation of one main character is masked at the end of "Attack," but revealed in "Bride," so to me there is more impact in reading "Bride" last. Min has never interested me as much as Russel, so "Bride" got off to a slower start for me, but Min won me over.

Hartinger has created a cast of totally believable characters, whom I can deeply care about as a reader. The conflicts he has left dangling at the end leave me eagerly await the promised installment written from Kevin's POV.

I originally purchased "Geography Club" because, as a teacher with a strong interest in the YA genre, I had not yet read a gay-themed teen novel. I was quickly hooked on the characters and wanted more. However, there came a point this time around when I decided I was NOT reading a gay-themed novel at all. I was simply reading a great story in which some of the characters were gay. Perhaps that is the highest compliment I can pay this author.

In this third installment of the 'Geography Club' series, Hartinger shows that even gay teens have to deal with the normal ins and outs of high school relationships. Russel is forced to choose between Otto, his long distance boyfriend, and his ex, the school bad boy who recently came out. In the book's other 'half,' Min meets the girl of her dreams, but feels her new girlfriend is too concerned about popularity and what others will think. The two halves build off each other nicely, filling in gaps without a lot of repeating. Hartinger has kept this series fresh, and I look forward to what's next.

You have to read both of their stories to really understand what's going on. I enjoyed both Russell and Min's side of what went on during this little fiasco. Hartinger did a great job explaining every little detail, especially when it came to Middlebrook finally coming out. I really hope in the next book we get to learn more about how everything went with him and the folks. Oh, and especially about KEVIN. :) Poor guy. Gotta love him for what he did.