Hartinger's debut novel is a fast-paced and funny 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 a typical American high school.

Reviews

Gr 10 Up-Russel Middlebrook is a sophomore at Goodkind High School. He has a secret crush on a baseball jock, Kevin Land, and soon discovers that Kevin is also gay. The boys become friendly outside of school and set up the "Geography Club" with three other gay students, one of whom is Russel's closest friend, Min. The club members relish the opportunity to discuss their lives and to relate to one another openly and honestly. Eventually, however, intense peer pressure and insecurity take their toll. Russel's relationship with Kevin ends, but the "Geography Club" becomes the "Goodkind High School Gay-Straight-Bisexual Alliance," and the protagonist gains new insight into himself and his place in the world. Hartinger has written a compelling look at the high school scene and the serious consequences of being "different." The plot never falters. Dialogue flows smoothly and is always completely believable, and the occasional use of profanity adds to the realism of the story. Characterization is excellent, with all of the teens emerging as likable but flawed individuals caught in a situation that few young adults could handle with maturity. This author has something to say here, and his message is potent and effective in its delivery. Many teens, both gay and straight, should find this novel intriguing.-Robert Gray, East Central Regional Library, Cambridge, MN Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

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. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.