Brent Hartinger: Geography Club; Split Screen
Apparently I haven't written about Brent Hartinger even though I read his young adult novel Geography Club (2003) quite a while ago. I bring him up now because yesterday my bro and I stumbled upon a huge used bookstore that was organized and amazing--I could have happily spent hours scouring the shelves for books I want to own. I'd borrowed Hartinger's Geography Club from the library, but they didn't have the follow-up, Split Screen (2007). The used bookstore had both. =D (I haven't even run into Split Screen in any of the regular bookstores that I remember to check!)
Both Geography Club and Split Screen deal with the experiences of gay teens in a lighthearted but serious manner, i.e. not overly angsty, but jam-packed with all the insecurities and peer pressure of high school, wrapped in fast-moving prose. GC focuses on Russel Brook and his circle of friends, gay and straight, as they set up a school club in which they can socialize (it's like a gay-straight-bisexual alliance, but they give it a really boring name--the geography club--in order to discourage students from joining). GC's concern is more about coming out, if I remember correctly. I read it quite a while ago but I remember liking Hartinger's teenage voice.
Split Screen is actually two novels/novellas in one--you literally have to flip the book to read the other half. One story is once again from Russle's POV while he struggles with choosing between a long-distance relationship with a guy he really likes and a re-ignited interest from his ex-boyfriend from GC. The other is narrated by his bisexual best friend Min who meets a girl she's interested in on the movie set which Russel and co. are extras for (they're playing zombies). There's a lot of overlap but from a new perspective that allows Hartinger to add layers and make the story more complex. I read Russel's story first and then followed it up with Min's, which seems to be the correct order. Hartinger gives both really distinct--Russel is a sweet, sensitive, intelligent, and confused young man while Min is an outspoken, opinionated, intelligent, and confused young woman--but still teenaged voices. Min is ridiculously adorable when she's trying to strategize some playa moves.
I really enjoyed both stories. The part that really struck me came from Russel's story:
. . . People like to say that we gay people don't know what it's like to experience "real" discrimination--that we were never slaves, that we never had our land stolen from us, that we were never put in concentration camps (wait, yes, we were--okay, bad example). But let me say here and now that being rejected by your own parents just for being yourself is really, really tough. Sure, other minorities have had it bad (like it's some contest!), but at least they grew up in families surrounded by people just like themselves. No matter how bad they had it, no matter how bad the discrimination is or was, at least most of them had one another.
Meanwhile, most of us gay people grow up surrounded by people who we know don't understand us and who, if they knew the truth, might very well completely reject us. Then when they finally do learn the truth, most of our parents do reject us, at least for a little while. And there is nothing--and I mean nothing!--like being rejected by your own parents, even if you don't have anything in common with them. These are still the people who raised you, who are supposed to love you unconditionally.
Just something to think about, okay?
--Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, pp. 23-24
I'm also pretty sure Hartinger surfed the Internet to pick up lesbian culture. Check it:
[Leah] had framed movie posters from monster flicks like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Cat People. She also had one of Princess Leia from the original Star Wars, but not in a metal bikini. She had shelves and shelves of books--almost all science fiction and fantasy. She had good taste too: excellent books by Jacqueline Carey, Octavia Butler, and George R. R. Martin; graphic novels from Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore; and bound reprintings of old EC and DC Comics.
. . .
By now she had closed the door to her bedroom. On the back, there was a big poster of Xena and Gabrielle from the TV series Xena, Warrior Princess.
"Oh, my God!" I said. "You are a lesbian!"
"You weren't sure?" said Leah. "And you can tell that from my Xena poster?"
I gave her the fish-eye. "You're kidding, right?"
--Split Screen: Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, pp. 94-95
Gotta give it to Hartinger--man does his research. Of course, not all Xena fans are lesbians and not all lesbians are Xena fans, lol.
If I knew a gay teen, I feel like I'd point them to Hartinger's books, since they deal with that friction between wanting to fit in and wanting to stand up for yourself or what you believe in. (And not all the characters make the same decision on this issue.) These are positive portrayals of gay teens but flawed and complicated ones. The characters have dimensions. And good voices. LGBT young adult lit could definitely use a few more talented writers like Hartinger.
Both Geography Club and Split Screen deal with the experiences of gay teens in a lighthearted but serious manner, i.e. not overly angsty, but jam-packed with all the insecurities and peer pressure of high school, wrapped in fast-moving prose. GC focuses on Russel Brook and his circle of friends, gay and straight, as they set up a school club in which they can socialize (it's like a gay-straight-bisexual alliance, but they give it a really boring name--the geography club--in order to discourage students from joining). GC's concern is more about coming out, if I remember correctly. I read it quite a while ago but I remember liking Hartinger's teenage voice.
Split Screen is actually two novels/novellas in one--you literally have to flip the book to read the other half. One story is once again from Russle's POV while he struggles with choosing between a long-distance relationship with a guy he really likes and a re-ignited interest from his ex-boyfriend from GC. The other is narrated by his bisexual best friend Min who meets a girl she's interested in on the movie set which Russel and co. are extras for (they're playing zombies). There's a lot of overlap but from a new perspective that allows Hartinger to add layers and make the story more complex. I read Russel's story first and then followed it up with Min's, which seems to be the correct order. Hartinger gives both really distinct--Russel is a sweet, sensitive, intelligent, and confused young man while Min is an outspoken, opinionated, intelligent, and confused young woman--but still teenaged voices. Min is ridiculously adorable when she's trying to strategize some playa moves.
I really enjoyed both stories. The part that really struck me came from Russel's story:
. . . People like to say that we gay people don't know what it's like to experience "real" discrimination--that we were never slaves, that we never had our land stolen from us, that we were never put in concentration camps (wait, yes, we were--okay, bad example). But let me say here and now that being rejected by your own parents just for being yourself is really, really tough. Sure, other minorities have had it bad (like it's some contest!), but at least they grew up in families surrounded by people just like themselves. No matter how bad they had it, no matter how bad the discrimination is or was, at least most of them had one another.
Meanwhile, most of us gay people grow up surrounded by people who we know don't understand us and who, if they knew the truth, might very well completely reject us. Then when they finally do learn the truth, most of our parents do reject us, at least for a little while. And there is nothing--and I mean nothing!--like being rejected by your own parents, even if you don't have anything in common with them. These are still the people who raised you, who are supposed to love you unconditionally.
Just something to think about, okay?
--Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, pp. 23-24
I'm also pretty sure Hartinger surfed the Internet to pick up lesbian culture. Check it:
[Leah] had framed movie posters from monster flicks like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Cat People. She also had one of Princess Leia from the original Star Wars, but not in a metal bikini. She had shelves and shelves of books--almost all science fiction and fantasy. She had good taste too: excellent books by Jacqueline Carey, Octavia Butler, and George R. R. Martin; graphic novels from Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore; and bound reprintings of old EC and DC Comics.
. . .
By now she had closed the door to her bedroom. On the back, there was a big poster of Xena and Gabrielle from the TV series Xena, Warrior Princess.
"Oh, my God!" I said. "You are a lesbian!"
"You weren't sure?" said Leah. "And you can tell that from my Xena poster?"
I gave her the fish-eye. "You're kidding, right?"
--Split Screen: Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, pp. 94-95
Gotta give it to Hartinger--man does his research. Of course, not all Xena fans are lesbians and not all lesbians are Xena fans, lol.
If I knew a gay teen, I feel like I'd point them to Hartinger's books, since they deal with that friction between wanting to fit in and wanting to stand up for yourself or what you believe in. (And not all the characters make the same decision on this issue.) These are positive portrayals of gay teens but flawed and complicated ones. The characters have dimensions. And good voices. LGBT young adult lit could definitely use a few more talented writers like Hartinger.