Geography Club

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="57fa77d0.jpg" border=0 width="167" height="125" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <A HREF="news_and_events.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News Events">News & Events</A></div> <div> <A HREF="novels__short_stories.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writings">Writings</A></div> <div> <A HREF="order_books.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Order Books">Order Books</A></div> <div> <A HREF="blog.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Blog">Blog</A></div> <div> <A HREF="press_room.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Press Room">Press Room</A></div> <div> <A HREF="contact_the_author.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact the Author">Contact the Author</A></div> <div> <A HREF="forum__chat.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Forum">Forum</A></div> <div> <A HREF="art_gallery.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Art Gallery">Art Gallery</A></div> <div> <A HREF="resources_and_links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Resources and Links">Resources and Links</A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Courier New" ><B>Josh Aterovis</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Josh Aterovis">home</A>     <A HREF="book_reviews.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Reviews">Book Reviews</A></div> <div> <A HREF="boy_meets_boy.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Boy Meets Boy">Boy Meets Boy</A>   ·   <A HREF="christopher.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christopher">Christopher</A>   ·   <A HREF="fatal_shadows.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fatal Shadows">Fatal Shadows</A>   ·   <A HREF="from_the_ashes.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="From the Ashes">From the Ashes</A>   ·   <B>Geography Club</B>   ·   <A HREF="the_house_beautiful.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The House Beautiful">The House Beautiful</A>   ·   <A HREF="spare_parts.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hot Sauce">Hot Sauce</A>   ·   <A HREF="how_i_paid_for_college.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How I Paid For College">How I Paid For College</A>   ·   <A HREF="lust.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lust">Lust</A>   ·   <A HREF="one_picking_fruit.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="On Picking Fruit">On Picking Fruit</A>   ·   <A HREF="the_order_of_the_poison_oak.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Order of the Poison Oak">The Order of the Poison Oak</A>   ·   <A HREF="the_phoenix.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Phoenix">The Phoenix</A>   ·   <A HREF="the_protector.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Protector">The Protector</A>   ·   <A HREF="id623.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Rest Is Illusion">The Rest Is Illusion</A>   ·   <A HREF="spare_parts287.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spare Parts">Spare Parts</A>   ·   <A HREF="stepping_out.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stepping Out">Stepping Out</A>   ·   <A HREF="subsurdity.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Subsurdity">Subsurdity</A>   ·   <A HREF="the_trouble_boy.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Trouble Boy">The Trouble Boy</A>   ·   <A HREF="you_can_say_you_knew_me_when.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Can Say You Knew Me When">You Can Say You Knew Me When</A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Geography Club</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="3d4ba050.gif" border=0 width="442" height="5" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="6059ee20.gif" border=0 width="158" height="226" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="0">Author: Brent Hartinger</div> <div> ISBN: 0-06-001221-8</div> <bR> <div> With his debut novel, <I>Geography Club</I>, Brent Hartinger has created a sharp, witty, and touchingly realistic look into the lives of modern gay high school students. Russel has never knowingly met another gay person in his small town. He firmly believes he's the only gay kid at his high school, and in fact, feels like he's a spy in enemy territory. When he stumbles across a gay chat room set up just for his town, he's shocked to meet another gay student from his school. They agree to meet and much to Russ' surprise, the other gay student is none other than Kevin, a popular jock. </div> <bR> <div> That information is just too much to keep to himself so he risks coming out to Min, his best friend. Min shocks him making a confession of her own: she has a girlfriend, soccer-playing Terese. The four of them, along with Terese's activist friend Ike, decide to get together to talk about all they have in common. But where? There's seems to be no safe place that jocks, activists, and self-described intellectuals can meet together without drawing suspicion in the clique obsessed society of high school. That's when they come up with the idea to form the Geography Club. “We just choose a club that's so boring, nobody in their right mind would ever in a million years join it.”</div> <bR> <div> The idea works at first, but when another student suddenly, and rather inexplicably, wants to join, things start to unravel. Things are further complicated by Russ' rocket-fast trip from the respectable edges of society to popularity. He suddenly finds himself faced with decisions and situations he's never imagined for himself. Will he make the right choices? What will he do to hang on to his newfound status?</div> <bR> <div> Hartinger tackles the difficult and treacherous landscape of high school society with startling realism. I kept expecting his characters to act in the typical “after-school special” fashion for which the first part of the book seems to set them up. Much to my surprise (and pleasure) he doesn't take the easy way out. His characters feel real, and that means they don't always do the “right” thing. Hartinger's writing style, aimed specifically at young adults, is extremely accessible, and the book is a quick, but satisfying read. I think it's safe to say that we can expect more great things from Brent Hartinger.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>