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Geography Club

(2005, Fiction - Coming of Age, Written by Brent Hartinger)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 14, age appropriate for kids over 16; suggested age 14.
  • Is it any good?

    3.0
  • Common Sense says

    A gay student learns he's not alone.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 14–16

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    The narrator meets someone from a chat room alone at night, though it turns out to be someone he knows from school. Russel joins in on the bullying of an outcast, but learns his lesson when he's ostracized after a rumor that he's gay circulates. A teacher is fired for her stance against abstinence-only education.
  • Violence:

    A social outcast is physically humiliated.
  • Sex:

    Some kissing, locker room nudity and sex talk; the narrator admits to looking at gay porn; a girl pressures the protagonist to have sex.
  • Language:

    Some swearing, including slurs against gay people.
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Some characters drink, and one also smokes. The narrator tries chewing tobacco.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Geography Club

Parents need to know that this book features some strong language, cruel taunting, and other questionable behavior, including the main character's decision to go alone and at night to meet someone he just chatted with online.

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Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about sexuality and discrimination. What do you think of people who use the word "gay" to talk about anything bad or lame? If students started a gay-straight alliance at your school, would you join?

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Colorado
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 5.0

    I picked it up, and put it down completed.

    Geography club is a very good book. The way Mr.Hartinger expresess the way the main character feels as a homo, and expresess his feelings and the things that he does is not only acurate, but also to the point. I am not saying that all homosexualls are like this, but the obsticals and all of the bashing that is portrayed in this story is very true. The way that the main character shares his feelings for the person that he like is very straightforward. All in all the book is great and would definitly recomend it for all people...Also really good book is Order of the poison oak, good reading

  2. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in Washington
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 5.0

  3. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in Kentucky
    I rate this title on for age 13 and give it 4.0

    maqke them think

    Students may actually think about how they treat there peers after reading this book. I found that it was a great story to uncover the truth about the injustices that we all faced in some form in high school.

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