Product Description

It's a horror-movie extravaganza in this companion to Brent Hartinger's Geography Club! Two books in one recount the stories of best friends Min and Russel who sign up to be extras on the set of a zombie film – then learn that there's nothing scarier than high school romance!

Read one story, flip the book over, and read the other! In Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, Russel must choose between his long-distance boyfriend and a close-to-home ex who wants to get back together. In Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, Min struggles to accept her cheerleader girlfriend's decision to stay in the closet.

Russel and Min's separate stories affect each other in surprising ways – but you'll have to read both books to find out how!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64409 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Released on: 2007-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up—In this sequel to Geography Club (2003) and Order of the Poison Oak (2005, both HarperCollins), told in flip-book format, Russel and Min answer a casting call for extras for an upcoming horror film. Russel's parents have just discovered that he is gay, and he is devastated by their reaction. Also, an old boyfriend who dumped him turns up at rehearsals and wants to get back together; while the attraction is still there, Russel loves his current boyfriend. On the flip side, Min is lonely and wants a new relationship, but she can't decide if she's willing to have one with Leah, who has chosen not to come out for fear of losing her friends. All of this is played out against the backdrop of movie rehearsals. What is intriguing about the book is how very differently these two characters interpret the same events, and how oblivious each one can be to what is happening to the other. Hartinger handles a number of fairly serious issues here with a lighter touch than in The Order of the Poison Oak, and there is a lot of humor in this book. The characters' narrative voices sound authentically teen, and the section in which Russel tells about his coming out to his parents, their reaction, and his subsequent talk with the family priest particularly rings true. Min Wei's story is equally well told. Libraries owning the first two books will definitely want this one.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"The action is fast and funny...An almost too-quick, he-said/she-said romance." (Kirkus Reviews )

"Intriguing...authentically teen...well told." (School Library Journal )

About the Author

Brent Hartinger has been a full-time author for many years, writing novels, plays, and screenplays. He lives in Washington State. Among his books are Geography Club and its sequel, The Order of the Poison Oak, as well as The Last Chance Texaco and Split Screen. Like Dave and his friends, as a teenager he resisted getting a job for as long as possible but finally was forced by his parents to go to work as a lifeguard at age sixteen. He still smells like coconut sunblock.

Customer Reviews

Split Screen shows teens aren't zombies
Brent Hartinger writes great teen novels: they have strong plots with unforeseeable twists; they're filled with clever dialogue and funny one-liners; and most important, they're stocked with good-hearted (though occasionally wrong-headed) characters who remind readers of what they love about their own friends--their brilliance and loyalty, their passion for their beliefs, and their ability to remember one's good points and still catch one's failings.

Hartinger delivers on all these strengths once again in his new novel "Split Screen." It's the third in a series, but it's a sequel with an innovative spin: it tells the same story twice from two points of view, demonstrating that even best friends experience things differently, and that life's big questions--like who to love, and when to be brave--don't always have just one right answer.

The book follows "The Geography Club" and "The Order of the Poison Oak" to tell the stories of high school student Russell Middleton and his circle of cool but less-than-popular friends. In previous books, Russell and his pals formed a gay-straight alliance to make their school a safer, more open place and then managed to survive summer camp with nothing worse than bruised hearts and itchy rashes. "Split Screen" catches up with them in the fall of their junior year as they sign up to work as extras on the set of a horror movie filming right in their hometown.

When read one way, the book tells Russell's story of boyfriend and parent troubles: just as he's anticipating a Thanksgiving visit from his steady guy, his unsteady ex begins trying to win him back, sending Russ into an emotional spin. And to top it off, Russell's parents come unhinged from reason when they (belatedly) find out that he's gay. It's a mess.

But flip the book over, and the same events are told in a different version by Russell's good friend Min, a brainier-than-thou girl who tries to live her life according to staunch principles. She aspires not just to honesty but to forthrightness, and that sort of candor is causing her problems. Min's new girlfriend (who's completely awesome and totally sharp) is set on being two different people: one version for Min and another entirely for her friends at school. It's also a mess.

Hartinger excels at giving Russell and Min distinct voices and at making their similar struggles unique: Russ is pulled more by his heart whereas Min follows her head--he worries most about being misunderstood or hurting someone; she's terrified at her uncertainty when her clear ideals jam up against life's murkier situations.

This novel's greatest strength (from among many) may be that Hartinger gives both his main characters truly perplexing dilemmas. One could see them choosing either way--the old boyfriend or the new, a path of compromise or one of confrontation--and sympathize with the reasons behind the decision. Rather than present his teen readers with simplistic answers, he instead suggests that the act of deciding is itself the main event: Life can't be lived on autopilot, and no one can choose better than the person in the cockpit.

"Split Screen" brings a great deal of fun, but it also digs deep into exactly the sort of questions that teens face as they go about the hard work of growing up. It's a romp with good friends, and it's a book that gives a lot of respect to the right and responsibility of young people to make important choices for themselves.

Recommended for readers ages 12 and older.

Enjoyable
I enjoyed this book more than I did "The Order of the Poison Oak", and just slightly less than "The Geography Club" (books that also feature the characters in Split Screen.) The reason why I didn't enjoy it as much as "Geography Club" partly has to do with the original always being one's favorite, but that "Split Screen" wasn't long enough. Yes, we do get two full stories but I'd have been happier with one expanded tale focusing on Russel. I admit, I didn't find Min's story as interesting, but she's never been one of my favorite characters anyhow.

That aside, Hartinger's writing has grown stronger and leaner without sacrificing quality or character development. Plus, the unique aspect of a low-budget zombie film is a fun catalyst and the brief glimpses we get of the filmmaking experience are illuminating. I think most people will enjoy this book, and considering Russel's dilemma with his parents, I'm hoping we get another.

An interesting new way to read a great story
Brent Hartinger has done it again. This is another great book in the Geography Club story line. The book stands alone, but you can get more out of it if you read the first two books in the series, Geography Club, and The Order of the Poinson Oak.

This book is a very interesting book. It is not just one book, but two books in one. The books tells a story of the same time in space, from the viewpoints of two characters. The first one is from Russel, and the second, his best friend Min. You read the first book, and then flip it over to get the second book. You get to see some of the same events, but from the viewpoint of the other character. There is also some things that are revealed when you read the second book.

I found the story to be engrosing, and I couldn't stop reading. The characters are well done, and the wisdom in the book is something to think about. I think that any teen will love this book. There are some twists and turns in the plot that are great, and a few mysteries that are revealed as more that they appear. There is one loose end that doesn't get tied up by the end of the book, and I truely hope that Hartinger writes another book to tie up this loose end. If his is, I eagerly await it.

This book is a definite read for anyone.