9.23.2009

Geography Club

Title: Geography Club
Author: Brent Hartinger
Pub Date: 2003
Pages: 226
Genre: YA, GLBT

Quick Summary

Russell is gay. At least he thinks he is. He hasn't actually kissed a boy yet. But he does like to look at guys. And go to teen gay chat rooms. Russell feels pretty alone in his small town high school of about 800 kids. Which was why it was such a big deal when he finds another boy from his town and his high school in the chat room. And it becomes an even bigger deal when he meets this boy and it's THE popular baseball player, Kevin.

After confiding in his best friend Min, she reveals her own secret - identifying herself as bisexual, she's been dating Terese on the sly for about three yeas. Russell expresses the desire to get everyone together to talk about their experiences. Soon, the Geography Club is born.

My Thoughts

The Geography Club has been on my radar for about a year now (?),but a recommendation from Ready When You Are, C.B. solidified my decision.

I really enjoyed this book. My experiences with YA GLBT list is limited primarily to Julie Anne Peters so I was stoked to find another author. (And seriously check out Brent Hartinger's website: it's one of the coolest home pages ever!)

Russell is a very likable and believable character. He is confronted with teen issues outside of his sexuality, but perhaps are a bit exacerbated because of his sexuality. Does that make sense? Let me give an example: trying so hard to keep being gay on the DL he throws another kid, one that already gets picked on, under the bus.

Sure, Geography Club is about a boy who's gay and trying to figure out what that means, but more importantly it's a book about trying to accept yourself when you're different during an age when being different is the worst thing to be ever.

I absolutely loved it. And it's definitely middle grades friendly. Cute boy on boy kissing but that's pretty much it.

2 comments:

  1. I just read my first Julie Anne Peters book last week! I sobbed for the whole last 100 pages. She's amazing and I need to read more of her books!

    This one sounds excellent, too. I'm adding it to the TBR list!

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  2. This does sound interesting. I can't say I have read any books in this genre. I think I might have to join Amanda's GBLT challenge next year to read some of these books.

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