The Order of the Poison Oak

Russel Middlebrook is back in this sequel to Brent Hartinger's GEOGRAPHY CLUB. This novel picks up right where the last one left off--Russel has been outed to his entire high school and now he is known as "the gay kid." Eager to escape, he jumps at the chance to be a summer camp counselor with his best friends Gunnar and Min as soon as the school year ends.

While at camp, the three friends have their share of romantic adventures, intrigue, and mishaps pretty predictably. However, Hartinger does a good job of keeping enough twists in the plot to keep it interesting. He especially has added much more depth to the three main characters to make this novel better and more mature than its predecessor. A quick and fun read and a sequel that show more definitely is an improvement on the "just scratching the surface" nature of the first book. show less

I don't have a lot to say about this book. It's a very cute read, short, sweet and not-quite to the point (which is the point, amusingly enough). Hartinger's sequel to Geography Club is the story of Russel, Gunnar and Min. It follows the three friends as they embark on one of those life-changing (or at least temporarily altering) events that teenagers have. They decide to spend the summer being camp counselors at summer camp. What ensues does include some hijinks, but like the first book, there's a serious side. Hartinger tells the story from Russel's point of view, infusing it with a mild form of introspection that is both amusing and annoying -- though not enough so that I didn't like the book. In fact, I enjoyed the story because it show more was exactly what I wanted -- a cute story that you knew would be happy in the end, but you weren't sure just how the characters were going to sort things out. I wish Hartinger was going to write more in this universe, but The Order of the Poison Oak seems to be a complete novel. It's both enjoyable and fun to read. show less

Like the first book, I raced through this without stopping to breath. Again, I was eager to find out what would happen to the three main characters. I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first, as i felt the winning over of the kids was a little bit contrived, and my cornball alarms went off a few times. The scenario where two friends are lusting after the same stranger was a flashback to teen awkward.

Hartinger not only believably details the experience of being a gay teen, he effectively describes the experience of any sort of outsider. Some of the more frank sexual details may cause some tittering among readers, but the characters are believable and sympathetic. The great YA melodrama trap rears its head here, but Hartinger handles the drama well, and the action does not come across as arbitrary. Female teens may enjoy this more than gay male teens because of the romantic twists.

A sequel to Geography Club. Russel is looking forward to the end of the school year and a summer where he can go away and not be known as "the gay boy." He goes to be a camp counselor with his two best friends. Russel hadn't really thought about what it was going to be like to be in charge of a group of 10-year-old boys, let alone his first group who are all burn survivors.

Russel's narrative is honest and funny at times. He struggles with issues most teens face and tries his best - not always making the best choices, but always with the best intentions.

I like this series by Hartinger. His works are quick read and easily accessible, with good messages about accepting people as they are and where to find true friends.

Russel and friends become counsellors at a camp for children who bear facial scars as survivors of burns.

Russel makes mistakes but tries to make amends and learns from his mistakes. I like him.

The sequel is quite touching. While the Geograhy Club was good, this one shined. The story of the rainbow crow and how it tied into the children was precious.