The Geography Club

Brent Hartinger is a nice guy. He is active with AS IF and very nicely answered some questions that I had. That is a marvelous resource for a librarian-- to actually have contact with people who write the books I am pushing!

I was glad that I liked his book, The Geography Club. It is more of a high school book than a middle school book, (drinking, dating, other situations) so I don't think I will buy it, but I will make sure that I read other books by this author. I liked his style, because it seemed very realistic, and I was greatly informed by his topic, which was about a high school boy who is gay. It wasn't sensational, but very matter of fact in its tone. It was fun to read. Since I can't travel everywhere or be everyone in the world, I like to read about places and people who are different.

The only bad thing I would say about this book was that the use of the f word was a bit gratuitous, at least in one scene. We know that the girl is drunk and obnoxious without her using the language. Other than that, I loved his descriptions-- I have already given the book to a student or I would quote them. Definitely an author to watch. I feel like I have learned a lot from both the book and the author.