Böcker av Brent Hartinger

NOW A FEATURE FILM! And being developed as a TV series..."Our parents just said we had to get summer jobs. They didn't say what summer jobs!"Dave and his two best friends, Hannah and Curtis, are looking forward to a summer of complete freedom, but their parents have another idea: they insist that the three teenagers get summer jobs.But the friends come up with a plan: Why not invent fake jobs to get their parents off their backs? The trouble is, their parents are going to want to see them bringing in real money. And that means finding a way to get-rich-quick, but without breaking the law, and without doing any actual work.The summer passes and Dave, Curtis, and Hannah try a long list of schemes: trying to catch bank robbers to win the reward; scientifically calculating the "correct" number of jelly beans in a contest jar; finding and exploring a network of underground smugglers' tunnels; and even diving for sunken treasure.But "Project Pay Day" never quite goes according to plan, and they don't get the money they need.Soon summer is almost over, and they have no choice but to solve a big local mystery, or face the consequences of their actions, which includes their parents breaking up the trio for good!(For readers age 10 and up)A previous version of this book was published under the title Project Sweet Life."A hilarious story filled with mishaps, close calls, and outrageous adventures...The novel will be especially appealing to middle school boys."- School Library Journal"The friendship, lightly and expertly depicted, drives the book, while their smartly plotted moneymaking schemes are creative, highjinks-filled, and hilariously almost effective."- Horn Book Review"The characters ring true, and teens will appreciate that the trio puts more effort into evading work than they would have expended at a real job. An amusing story with great teen appeal."- Booklist"Marked by sly wit and a certain old-fashioned jauntiness, this tale of three chums on a quest for indolence strikes many a wish-fulfillment fancy...Hartinger blends urban legend with the actual history of Tacoma's routing of its Chinese community (author's note included) to craft an irresistible setting (who wouldn't want to explore lost tunnels under a city in search of treasure?), humorous episodes tinged with mild danger, and a light-hearted mystery"- BCCB"This comedy of errors builds quickly and surely, with each potential scheme ending in disaster yet spawning ever new possibilities. Hartinger is relentless in ramping up the tension on his young characters. He does so with wit and flair, moreover, building into the mix an episode from the racially troubled history of Tacoma, Washington...Lovable, flawed, and genuinely charming, Hartinger's characters drive the story...here is a funny, realistic yet whimsical story delivered up with loving care."- CLCD"This book was hilarious and had me turning pages to see what the next plan would be. The best part was that none of it ever felt like it was unrealistic - I really believed that the crazy adventures and money schemes could actually work! Author Brent Hartinger has the perfect voice of teen boys. His characters sounded exactly like the teens I know."- GreenBeanTeenQueen"An ingenious plot with a little Tom Sawyer, a little Homer Price, and a lotta laughs! That's what I call 'sweet!'"- Michael Cart, Booklist columnist

"I think gay guys like weddings more than anyone. And it's not because we want to destroy marriage, like some people say. It's because we really, really want to get married!"Russel Middlebrook is gettin' hitched! The wedding is taking place in a remote lodge on an island in Puget Sound. Russel and his husband-to-be have invited all their close friends to spend the whole weekend together beforehand.And for the first time in his life, Russel is determined to not be neurotic, and not over-think things.But that's before things start going wrong. Who expected a dead killer whale to wash up on the beach below the inn? And what's this about a windstorm approaching? Then there's the problem of Russel's anxious fiancé, who is increasingly convinced the whole thing is going to be a disaster.Meanwhile, the wedding is taking place near the ruins of a small town, Amazing, where, a hundred years earlier, the people supposedly all disappeared overnight. Why does it feel like the secret at the end of the road to Amazing has something to do with Russel's own future?Can Russel's friends Min, Gunnar, Vernie, and Otto somehow help him make it all make sense?The Road to Amazing, the last book in the Russel Middlebrook Futon Years trilogy, is a story about endings and beginnings, and also about growing up and growing older. But mostly it's a story about love and friendship-about how it's not the destination that makes a life amazing, but the people you meet along the way.Praise for Brent Hartinger: "Hits the narrative sweet spot."- NPR's All Things Considered"Downright refreshing."- USA Today"The most artful and authentic depiction of a gay teen since [19780]."- Horn Book Magazine"Touching and realistic...hilarious."- Kirkus Reviews

Book 4 in the Lambda Award-winning Russel Middlebrook Series!People aren't always what they seem to be. Sometimes we even surprise ourselves.So discovers seventeen-year-old Russel Middlebrook in The Elephant of Surprise, a stand-alone sequel to Brent Hartinger's landmark 2003 gay young adult novel Geography Club (which has now been adapted as a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula and Nikki Blonsky).In this latest book, Russel and his friends Min and Gunnar are laughing about something they call the Elephant of Surprise - the tendency for life to never turn out as expected. Sure enough, Russel soon happens upon a hot but mysterious homeless activist named Wade, even as he's drawn back to an old flame named Kevin. Meanwhile, Min is learning surprising things about her girlfriend Leah, and Gunnar just wants to be left alone to pursue his latest technology obsession. But the elephant is definitely on the move in all three of their lives. Just who is Wade and what are he and his friends planning? What is Leah hiding? And why is Gunnar taking naked pictures of Kevin in the shower?The Elephant of Surprise includes Hartinger's trademark combination of humor and romance, angst and optimism. Before the story is over, Russel and his friends will learn that the Elephant of Surprise really does appear when you least expect him-and that when he stomps on you, it really, really hurts.

Book 3 in the Russel Middlebrook Series, Winner of the Lambda Book Award!It's a horror-movie extravaganza in this, the second sequel to Brent Hartinger's gay teen classic, Geography Club. Two complete books in one recount the stories of best friends Russel and Min who sign up to be extras on the set of a zombie film and learn that there's nothing scarier than high school romance.In the first book, Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, Russel must choose between his long-distance boyfriend and a close-to-home ex named Kevin who wants to get back together. In the second book, Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, Min struggles to accept her cheerleader girlfriend's decision to stay in the closet.But beware! Russel and Min's separate stories affect each other in surprising ways, and you'll have to read both books together to find out the whole story.(Double Feature was previously published under the title Split Screen)

Book 1 in The Otto Digmore Series"Road trip!"Otto Digmore is a 26-year-old gay guy with dreams of being a successful actor, and he's finally getting some attention as a result of his supporting role on a struggling sitcom. But he's also a burn survivor with scars on half his face, and all indications are that he's just too different to ever find real Hollywood success.Now he's up for an amazing new role that could change everything. Problem is, he and his best friend Russel Middlebrook have to drive all the way across the country in order to get to the audition on time.It's hard to say which is worse: the fact that so many things go wrong, or that Russel, an aspiring screenwriter, keeps comparing their experiences to some kind of road trip movie.There's also the fact that Otto and Russel were once boyfriends, and Otto is starting to realize that he might still have romantic feelings for his best friend.Just how far will Otto go to get the role, and maybe the guy, of his dreams?Author Brent Hartinger first introduced the character of Otto Digmore in 2005, in his Lambda Award-winning books about Russel Middlebrook. Back then, Otto was something pretty unusual for YA literature: a disabled gay character.Now, more than a decade later, Otto is grown up and finally stepping into the spotlight on his own. The Otto Digmore Difference, the first book in a new stand-alone series for adults, is about much more than the challenges of being "different." It's also about the unexpected nature of all of life's journeys, and the heavy price that must be paid for Hollywood fame.But more than anything, it's a different kind of love story, about the frustrating and fantastic power of the love between two friends.

Book 2 in The Otto Digmore Series "If we get caught, they'll throw us in jail. On the other hand, we'll have been involved in one of the craziest Hollywood stories I've ever heard, and maybe someone will want to turn that into a movie!"Otto Digmore is back, still trying to make it as an actor in Hollywood (despite his facial scars), but frustrated by all the schemers who'll stab you in the back to get ahead. But then Otto's good friend Russel Middlebrook sells a screenplay, a heist movie set in the Middle Ages - and Otto has been cast in an important supporting role! For twelve weeks, Otto and Russel will be on location together in England and Malta. Problem is, once production is underway, it quickly becomes clear that the director is ruining Russel's script. If the movie ends up being the bomb that both Otto and Russel expect it to be, it could destroy both their Hollywood careers forever.But Otto and Russel aren't willing to take that chance. Together, they hatch a crazy plan to make a good movie behind the director's back. But how far are they willing to go to save their careers? Are they willing to become exactly the kind of scheming backstabbers they always said they hated? And what happens if the two of them disagree?The Otto Digmore Decision is partly a caper story, partly a humorous Hollywood satire. It's also an inside look at the struggles of anyone "different," and it's even something of a love story, except it's one between two friends.More than anything, The Otto Digmore Decision proves the old adage about creative pursuits: the most interesting drama always happens behind the scenes!"Hits the narrative sweet spot."- NPR's All Things Considered"Downright refreshing."- USA Today"Touching and realistic...hilarious."- Kirkus Reviews

Book 2 in the Lambda Award-winning Russel Middlebrook Series."Summer camp is different from high school. Something about spending the night. Things happen."Russel Middlebrook is back, in a stand-alone sequel to Geography Club, and he's off to work as a summer camp counselor with his best friends Min and Gunnar. He's sick and tired of being openly gay in high school, and a peaceful summer at Camp Serenity is just what he needs to relieve the stress that comes from being an "out" teenager.But he doesn't count on sudden new rivalries with Min and Gunnar, or having to chase after a cabin full of unruly campers. And he especially doesn't count on a fellow counselor as hunky as Web Bastion.Things do happen at Camp Serenity, especially at night. Brent Hartinger's third novel is a story about Indian legends, skinny-dipping in moonlit coves, and the mysteries of a secret society called the Order of the Poison Oak. But more than anything, this witty page-turner is about bravery in the face of unexpected danger, the passion of a sizzling summer romance, and, most of all, the courage to be yourself.

"There was no way moving to Los Angeles was going to make me give up my soul. After all, I'd already seen all the movies about Hollywood. I knew how things worked."Twenty-four year-old Russel Middebrook and his boyfriend have moved to Los Angeles so Russel can try to make it as a screenwriter.Almost right away, in a forgotten old house off of Sunset Boulevard, Russel meets Isaac Brander, a once-famous film producer who is convinced he can turn Russel's screenplay into a movie.Russel knows that success can't possibly come this easy. After all, most of Russel's Los Angeles friends are so desperate to make it that it's downright scary. His ex-boyfriend, Otto, is trying everything to become an actor, and Daniel, the sexy neighbor, doesn't even need a casting couch to get naked.So what's the catch with Mr. Brander? Could it be that movies about Hollywood don't tell the whole truth? But what does that mean for Russel's soul?Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams, a companion book to Brent Hartinger's The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know, is a fast-paced, funny story about the price of fame in Hollywood: the hilarious lengths people will go to achieve it, and the touching secret to survival when things don't work out exactly as planned.Advance Praise for Barefoot in the City of Broken Dreams: "A sharp, canny, highly engaging tour through a Hollywood of cunning characters and colorful intrigues, guided by the clever voice of Russel Middlebrook as an eager young screenwriter trying to bust in. I was charmed by every sly, sexy page." - Barry Sandler, screenwriter of Making Love and Crimes of Passion"With his trademark wit, warmth, and economy, Brent Hartinger brilliantly captures what it's like to move to L.A. and try and make it in Hollywood: the highs and the lows, the friends and the phonies, the fun and the frustration. And by the way, is it too late for me to be Russel Middlebrook when I grow up?" - Dennis Hensley, co-screenwriter of Testosterone, author of Misadventures in the (213)BRENT HARTINGER is an author, teacher, playwright, and screenwriter. Geography Club, the book in which Russel Middlebrook first appears (as a teenager), is also a successful stage play and a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula.In 1990, Brent helped found one of the world's first gay teen support groups, in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. In 2005, he co-founded the entertainment website AfterElton.com, which was sold to MTV/Viacom in 2006. He now lives in Seattle with his husband, Michael Jensen.

"I guess this was what they meant by a loss of innocence. Who knew?"Russel Middlebrook is twenty-three years old, gay, and living in trendy Seattle, but life isn't keeping up with the hype. Most of his friends have a direction in life-either ruthlessly pursuing their careers or passionately embracing their own aimlessness. But Russel is stuck in place. All he knows is that crappy jobs, horrible dates, and pointless hook-ups just aren't cutting it anymore.What's the secret? What does everyone else know that he doesn't?Enter Kevin, Russel's perfect high school boyfriend. Could rekindling an old flame be the thing Russel needs to get his life back on track? Or maybe the answer lies in a new friend, an eccentric screenwriter named Vernie Rose, who seems plenty wise. Or what the hell? Maybe Russel will find some answers by joining his best friend Gunnar's crazy search for the legendary Bigfoot!One way or another, Russel is determined to learn the all-important secret to life, even if it's a thing he doesn't even know he doesn't know.Author Brent Hartinger first made a splash writing books for teens. The Thing I Didn't Know I Didn't Know, Hartinger's first book for older readers, is just as much of a page-turner as his earlier works, with plenty of his trademark irreverent humor. But now his books have grown up along with his readers, exploring the issues of new adults, especially the complicated matter of love and sex.Praise for Brent Hartinger"Hits the narrative sweet spot."- NPR's All Things Considered"Downright refreshing."- USA TodayBRENT HARTINGER is an author, teacher, playwright, and screenwriter. Geography Club, the book in which Russel Middlebrook first appears (as a teenager), is also a successful stage play and a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula.In 1990, Brent helped found one of the world's first gay teen support groups, in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. In 2005, he co-founded the entertainment website AfterElton.com, which was sold to MTV/Viacom in 2006. He now lives in Seattle with his husband, Michael Jensen.