Name: Yes I Farted's review of Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
Item: Geography Club
Rating: 1
Author: Yes I Farted

Brent Hartinger

Russel Middlebrook is convinced he's the only gay kid at Goodkind High School. Then his online gay chat buddy turns out to be none other than Kevin, the popular but closeted star of the school's baseball team. Soon Russel meets other gay students, too. There's his best friend Min, who reveals that she is bisexual, and her soccer–playing girlfriend Terese. Then there's Terese's politically active friend, Ike. But how can kids this diverse get together without drawing attention to themselves? "We just choose a club that's so boring, nobody in their right mind would ever in a million years join it. We could call it Geography Club!" Brent Hartinger's debut novel, what became first of a series about Russel Middlebrook, is a fast–paced, funny, and trenchant 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 high school and the even more dangerous landscape of the human heart.

Geography Club

Tomi Schade

Yes I Farted

fucking awful. filled with gay stereotypes and it was so painful to read.

Georgia Carr

Nothing groundbreaking or life-changing, but a massively sweet story about finding friendship where you'd least expect it.

Emir Andrés Ibañez

La típica historia de instituto americano con sus dramas de popularidad mezclado con personajes que no se animan a salir del clóset. No es la gran genialidad ni aporta nada nuevo pero vaya que sirve para entretener bastante y drenar lecturas pesadas.

Amanda Wells

This YA book had been on my list for a while, since I saw the movie adaptation some time ago. At the time I really loved the idea of a 'coming of age' novel that WASN'T about the same old things (I mean, it is, essentially... but with an LGBTQI+ character, that was enough difference for me at the time!) This was a story I wish I'd read when I was a teenager. It shows how I'd fear people might act, and how I had hoped people would act. And it would have opened up space in my mind to imagine how conversations might go about difference, acceptance, and figuring out who you are.

Now I've read a lot more diverse stories (having actively sought out stories of LGBTIQ+ people - there are far more than I was aware of!) this story feels less progressive than it did when I was first introduced to it. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed the journey and the characters are very authentic to how I remember/imagine people of that age being. 

I'm so happy that there are books like this that exist in the YA world, that kids might find even if they don't look specifically for LGBTQI+ stories. I sound like an old woman, but MAN how far we've come...

Tomi Schade &
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

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Tomi Schade &Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

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Join the club

Tomi Schade &
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger