The Wonder Year

At Goodkind High School, a group of students with varying sexual orientations form an after-school club as a discreet way to share their feelings and experiences. "GEOGRAPHY CLUB" is based on Brent Hartinger's best-selling critically acclaimed novel: "What am I looking for?" asks 16-year old Russell Middlebrook of himself as he heads off on his newest adventure. Russell is still going on dates with girls, while Kevin will do anything to prevent his football teammates from finding out what he is concealing, Min and Terese tell everyone they're really just good friends, and Ike can't figure out who he is or what he wants to be. But the truth is too hard to hide - at least from each other - so they form the Geography Club. Nobody else will discover the truth about them as no other students in their right minds would ever join a club that sounds so boring. Their secrets will be safe from classmates. But are they? "Geography Club" is a smart, fast, moving and funny account of contemporary teenagers as they discover their own sexual identities, dreams and values and not merely live out their parents' desires and ambitions. Russell, Kevin, Min, Terese and Ike may not learn about actual places in their undercover social club, but they daringly explore the danger-filled, clique-mined landscape of Goodkind High School and courageously begin their journey in the exciting, still uncharted terrain of the human heart. —Edmund Entin Russell Middlebrook, a senior at Goodkind High School, feels like his father wants him to be an exact replica of him. That's why in testing his sexual orientation, he believing he may be gay, Russell has remained deep in the closet. Although officially stood up on a meeting in person leading out of an anonymous online chat, Russell later learns that that other person is a fellow classmate, Kevin Land, one of the school's star football players. Keven eventually makes it clear to Russell that he does want to have relationship with him, only on the understanding that they do remain in the closet. Kevin's own want to be in the closet is despite Russell learning that Kevin's parents would probably be supportive if they knew Kevin was gay, unlike Russell's father. Russell and Kevin believe they are being blackmailed by Min, a fellow student, when she catches them in an embrace. However, what Russell learns is that she only wants to introduce them to the school's "Geography Club", a self-formed club as a front for an in-the-closet or questioning gay/lesbian support group. After testing the waters with them, Russell does decide to join the Club. Beyond Kevin's efforts for he and Russell to legitimize their friendship in public but not their relationship, Russell being able to hide his homosexual orientation is threatened by agreeing to be the wingman for his best friend, Gunnar, which entails Russell dating Trish, an on the surface innocent girl, but who really wants to have sex with Russell. The Geography Club goes through growing pains of its own, with the two main issues being if they will be all inclusive, adding the most marginalized students in the school, and if they should make the Club official, meaning that all its members would be outed. The latter would have a direct affect on what happens in Russell and Kevin's relationship. —Huggo