Brent Hartinger

Funny, openly gay high school junior Russel Middlebrook-the star of Hartinger's Geography Club and two sequels-finds the adventure he is looking for when he falls for an anti-consumerist freegan who pops out of the school Dumpster. Through Wade, Russel is exposed to new experiences (like eating roadkill) and challenging ideas ("When you don't spend your whole life looking at a television or a computer screen, you can't help but take a good look at the world"). But just as their relationship show more turns romantic, Russel's friend Gunnar suspects that Wade and his freegan friends may be taking their beliefs to a dangerous extreme. show less

Russel Middlebrook is 23, living on a houseboat in Seattle, and working two dead-end jobs, as a lifeguard and a bakery assistant. When he compares himself to his housemates he feels he and his life are lacking something.

I didn't realise this was part of a series - two series in fact. This is the first in a second series following the adult lives of characters who already had a YA series. I found the beginning and end of this book sweet and insightful, but the middle was rather preachy, show more giving the author's views on various issues in a rather heavy-handed way. When I was reading the middle I was close to deciding not to bother with the author's other books but the ending convinced me to give them a try - at least put them on the wishlist. show less

The fourth installment in the Russel Middlebrook series is probably my favorite. The story isn't too far out from the previous three books, but there were a few things about it that I think pulled me in a bit more.

For one, I like the way the author is able to show that Russel is gaining a bit more maturity. It shows not only in the character's actions, but also in the voice of the narration. Secondly, the development of some of the side characters over the course of the series has helped to show more give more depth to Russel's world. And, finally, this is one where I actually didn't see one of the major twists coming until I was up to that particular scene (some of the previous books have been a bit more, well, predictable at times).

I'm not sure if there's a fifth book in store, but at this point I hope there is if the series is going to continue moving in this direction. show less

The latest installment in the Russel Middlebrook series takes a bit of a different turn in terms of presentation. While I can understand that some might think the idea of reading a story and then reading it again from another character's perspective, I contend that Hartinger's choice and method were both ingenious and well-done. Thus far readers have seen everything through Russel's eyes (thus is the nature of first-person narration). Since a number of things happened to Russel's friend Min show more that he didn't know about, it makes sense that the only way to present them to readers is to have Min tell her story. By doing so, Hartinger also helps us to understand Min even better - her narration is in a distinct voice that is in line with what we know of her character and gives us more insight into her life.

I enjoyed this just about as much as I enjoyed The Order of the Poison Oak and am looking forward to the latest book, The Elephant of Surprise. show less