Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Two Thousand Pounds Per Square Inch
AUTHOR: Brent Hartinger
PUBLISHER: The Real Story Safe Sex Project
LENGTH: 22 Pages
RELEASE DATE: January 12th , 2021
BLURB:
Warning: this story includes both explicit language about sex and graphic depictions of sex itself.
Russel Middlebrook is a gay teen who’s been through a lot. He’s the lead character in Brent Hartinger’s Lambda Award-winning Russel Middlebrook Series. And he’s also the star of Geography Club, the book that started it all and that has now been adapted as a feature film co-starring Scott Bakula and Ana Gasteyer.
But now Russel is facing his biggest challenge yet: getting tested to find out if he has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Along the way, he recalls some of his own most important sexual experiences.
This free short story is part of The Real Story Safe Sex Project, a volunteer organization started by Brent Hartinger, using fictional characters to spread the word about HIV/AIDS and safe sex to gay and bi male teens and twenty-somethings.
REVIEW:
This short story is a brilliant PSA (Public Service Announcement) about safer sex that may well save lives.
Done in an engaging, creative fashion, this is the tale of a young main character waiting for his HIV test results. Meanwhile he’s flashing back on the sexual partners and encounters that have gotten him to this point. Given that it’s set primarily in a doctors office (with some hot flashbacks) it does get a bit clinical in spots.
Between his adventures and the safe sex material presented by the health clinic volunteer briefing him, the reader gets a great review of current thinking about safer sex. And you may even learn something new. …not many people I’ve spoken with have ever heard of the upside down condom trick.
So many school districts fail to present this material to young people. Some cite the fear that it will lead youngsters to thinking about sex more. C’mon! Realistically, is that really possible? This short story provides a valuable service without doing it in a preachy, easy to ignore manner.
Kudos on a brilliant concept! And Kudos on helping spread the information rather than the virus.
RATING: 
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