Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies

Readers will enjoy Hartinger's original approach here: after finishing 16-year-old Russel's story, they can flip the book and read classmate Min's. The two friends (major characters from Hartinger's Geography Club) have similar stories: They are gay teens navigating complicated relationship problems-and working as extras in a zombie movie. While Russel prepares for a visit from his long-distance boyfriend, his parents discover he is gay. His mother tells him, ""Homosexuality is disgusting!"" Meanwhile, his old boyfriend, Kevin, tries to win Russel back. In bisexual Min's book, the heroine talks openly to her mother about her developing relationship with Leah. Leah worries that if she comes out, she will lose her cheerleader friends, and black-and-white Min must decide if she can live in ""shades of gray."" Russel and Min appear in each other's stories, but only readers will know what is happening behind the scenes (Min comforts Kevin after he makes a sacrifice for Russel, but Russel sees her large coat and thinks Min is a man whom Kevin is meeting in the park), and the zombie movie's themes provide interesting fodder for the events in the teens' lives. Readers will find that some details stretch credibility, such as the wise advice Russel receives from the zombie movie's star, but they will find this book both fun and creative. It's touching, too, especially Russel's heartwrenching thought that ""most of us gay people grow up surrounded by people who... if they knew the truth, might very well completely reject us."" Ages 14-up.