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Books Geography Club, The Order of the Poison Oak, Double Feature: Attack of t, The Elephant of Surprise | ||
The Russel Middlebrook Series is a series of young adult fiction novels written by Brent Hartinger. The series follows the lives and love lives of Russel Middlebrook and his friends as they create the Geography Club, a safe space for gay teenagers and eventually the first Gay-Straight-Bisexual Alliance at their school.
Contents
The Order of the Poison Oak
Summer camp is different from high school. Something about spending the night. Things happen.”
Geography Club's Russel Middlebrook is back, and he and his friends are off to work as counselors at a summer camp. Brent Hartinger's second novel is the story of Indian legends, skinny-dipping in moonlit coves, and passionate summer romance. It's also the story of Russel's latest club, the Order of the Poison Oak, a secret society dedicated to helping its members see life's hidden beauty and accept its sometimes painful sting.
Double Feature
The third book in the series (originally released under the name Split Screen) follows Russel, Min, Gunnar, and Kevin as they play extras in a zombie movie that is filming in their town. The book is in two parts, the first part being from Russel's POV and the second being from Min's.
It's a horror-movie extravaganza in this, the second sequel to Brent Hartinger's Geography Club. Two complete books in one recount the stories of best friends Russel and Min who sign up to be extras on the set of a zombie film and learn that there's nothing scarier than high school romance.
In the first book, Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, Russel must choose between his long-distance boyfriend and a close-to-home ex named Kevin who wants to get back together. In the second audiobook, Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, Min struggles to accept her cheerleader girlfriend's decision to stay in the closet. But beware! Russel and Min's separate stories affect each other in surprising ways, and you'll have to listen to both audiobooks together to find out the whole story.
The Elephant of Surprise
People aren't always what they seem to be. Sometimes we even surprise ourselves. So discovers seventeen-year-old Russel Middlebrook in The Elephant of Surprise, a stand-alone sequel to Brent Hartinger's landmark 2003 gay young adult novel Geography Club. In this latest book, Russel and his friends Min and Gunnar are laughing about something they call the Elephant of Surprise - the tendency for life to never turn out as expected. Sure enough, Russel soon happens upon a hot but mysterious homeless activist named Wade, even as he's drawn back to an old flame named Kevin.
Meanwhile, Min is learning surprising things about her girlfriend Leah, and Gunnar just wants to be left alone to pursue his latest technology obsession. But the elephant is definitely on the move in all three of their lives. Just who is Wade and what are he and his friends planning? What is Leah hiding? And why is Gunnar taking naked pictures of Kevin in the shower?
The Elephant of Surprise includes Hartinger's trademark combination of humor and romance, angst and optimism. Before the story is over, Russel and his friends will learn that the Elephant of Surprise really does appear when you least expect him - and that when he stomps on you, it really, really hurts.
Two Thousand Pounds Per Square Inch (Short Story)
But now Russel is facing his biggest challenge yet: getting tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Along the way, he learns a few things about safe sex and how to protect himself and others from the disease.
This free short story is part of The Real Story Safe Sex Project, an-all volunteer organization created by Brent Hartinger dedicated to using entertainment and popular culture to spread the word about HIV/AIDS and safe sex to gay and bi male teens and twentysomethings.
Russel Middlebrook: The Futon Years
Russel's story continues in a second series, Russel Middlebrook: The Futon Years, a "new adult" series featuring the character in his early and mid-20s.