Several years ago I watched a movie called Geography Club, so imagine my surprise when I learned it was based off of a book! That’s right, and even more interesting, is that this novel is the first of four featuring the same characters written by Bren Hartinger! I definitely have some more reading to do!
Ah, the hell that is high school. Russell seems like your average teen, except he’s hiding a big secret: he’s gay. It appears no one at this rather large high school is gay, but I also know this book was written in 2003, so write what you know. Anyways, even though Russell is keeping secrets with his friends, that doesn’t stop him from talking to other gay people in an online chat room. There, he comes across someone who apparently goes to the same school! From there, the two decide to meet and Russell finds out the other gay student at his school is the mega popular and very good looking Kevin Land! It almost seems too good to be true.
Eventually, he comes out to his best friend Min, who admits she’s bisexual and has been in a clandestine relationship with a girl on the softball team. The four of them all decide to meet, and are joined by another gay student. After loving that they don’t have to hide who they are around each other, they decided to start a club at the school where they can all meet. What better way to detract others from joining? Start a geography club! I don’t know about you, but I would never join something like that, so kudos to their creativity.
Of course, all of Russell’s highs obviously have to come with some lows, and boy do they get pretty low. Firstly, his other good friend Gunnar pressures Russell into going on a series of double dates. These encounters lead to blackmail! The fact that Russell forgives Gunnar in the end is sort of mind-boggling, but maybe he’s just a better person than me. An even worse outcome for the failed dates leads to the school thinking that Russell is “the gay one.” This immediately makes him a social pariah, where he’s banished to sit with the school’s biggest loser, Brian. Turns out Brian is a really good guy. He ends up helping in a big way, and suddenly things aren’t so bad anymore.
The damage is done though, and he tells Kevin they can’t be together anymore. He’s still too afraid of what everyone else thinks, and that doesn’t make for a good relationship. Instead, what he gets out of all of this is a new friendship with Brian, a closer friendship with Min and Gunnar, and a new Gay Straight Alliance club!
This book was a fun read, and it was cool to learn that in real life the author created one of the first Gay Straight Alliance clubs at his own school. Art imitating life! Russell is definitely frustrating at times, but I had to remind myself that these were teenagers in 2003, of course they’ll be frustrating. Overall though, I liked the messages this book got across and I look forward to seeing how the rest of the novels turn out!