Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Russel Middlebrook is pretty sure that he's gay. After all, he's not attracted to girls, and he spends every day after gym class studiously avoiding the other half-naked guys in the locker room. He's never had an actual experience with another guy, though, so maybe the attraction he feels toward them is something he'll outgrow--or maybe not.

While surfing the Internet one night, he finds chat rooms for different towns and cities, where you can talk to other people who are also gay. And amazingly enough, there's a boy he meets with the name GayTeen-- who not only lives in his town, but also attends his high school. Another gay boy, in his very own school? There's no way that could be true-- especially when he finds out that the kid with the handle GayTeen is none other than Kevin Land, star of the baseball team, one of the most popular guys in school.

As Kevin and Russel get to know one another, outside of school and hidden away from prying eyes, they realize that there's no way for them to be together inside school walls. The same is true for Russel's friends Min and Terese, who although they claim to just be really close friends, are actually in love. So along with a few others, including Gunnar, who is straight, and Brian Bund, the loser of Goodkind High School, the boys form The Geography Club. After all, no one else is going to want to join such a boring club--especially if they knew it was just a front for a gay/ lesbian school group.

As events at school heat up, with Brian eventually being outed as gay even though he's not, Russel, Kevin, and their friends will have to learn what's most important in life. And that sometimes, no matter how much you might wish for things to be out in the open, you're just not ready.

GEOGRAPHY CLUB is a great, quick read from author Brent Hartinger, about the ups and downs of daily high school life, and the struggle to find ones identity. ( )

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.

http://annotatedreading.blogspot.com/... ( )

Not the most popular boy in High School, nor particularly unpopular, Russell does have his own close friends, but know one shares his secret, that he likes other guys. That he is talked into dating a girl only adds to his problem, that is until he links up with another young guy in his own small town while in an internet chat room. They arrange to meet, and that proves to be the beginning of Russell's fulfilment.

But as is not surprising, nothing is quite that easy, but gradually Russell finds he is not alone his preference for other guys, and as he meets one or two others they are prompted to form the Geography Club, a club that has nothing to do with geography but everything to do with being an outsider.

Russell narrates his account of a year at High School, he comes across as a likeable and honest lad, and he tells his story with wit and in a very direct no nonsense manner. As a point of comparison, while reading this I was also reading Centre of My World by Andreas Steinhofel, a story with much in common with Geography Club: a young guy with his own close friends trying to establish a relationship with another guy at school, but beyond that they could not be more different. With Russell there is no beating about the bush, no mystery and little background, he tells his story very directly. By contrast Phil, the protagonist in Centre of My World provides in great detail what has made him what he is, and is on no hurry to relate his account. Is one better than the other? Not necessarily, but for me, for the sheer pleasure of reading, I know which I prefer. ( )

Russel is gay, and he knows he better keep it secret, or he'll be a total outcast in his small-town high school. But then he discovers that there are others like him--including Min, his longtime best friend, and her lesbian lover, as well as gorgeous, popular jock star Kevin. Seven of them form a support group (the "Geography Club" is their cover-up name), and for a short time, life is blissful. Russel has friends with whom he can be himself, and he also makes love with Kevin. Then things fall apart.

The author captures the feel of the moment in what is at times uncomfirtable but real. Overall it is an uplifting book. ( )