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Sprout

Dale Peck

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What Members Thought

Jul 10, 2009 Nancy rated it really liked it

Shelves: gay, award-winners, kids-and-teens, library-books, outlaw-reviews, shelf-inflicted

Cross posted at Shelf Inflicted and at Outlaw Reviews

Daniel Bradford (aka Sprout) is the new boy in school. He moved from Long Island to rural Kansas with his alcoholic father when he was twelve.

He dyes his hair green, has a way with words, makes new friends, and even finds a boyfriend.

This story was a little funny and a little sad. It dredged up some of my own painful memories of moving from the “Big City” to "the Country"). I can totally relate to Sprout's feelings about having to adapt to a ...more

62 likes · Like · see review

Jul 05, 2009 Thomas rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, realistic-fiction, lgbtq, romance

"Sprout" is about Daniel Bradford, aka Sprout, a unique individual that has dyed his hair green and is also gay. And the thing is is that he though he knows he is gay, it's not like a secret or anything. He just doesn't want to come out to everyone at school, doesn't want the publicity or being known for that one aspect of his life. However, it's tough when your mom has passed away and your dad is always drunk, and on top of that he has just moved from his old home to some strange Kentucky place "Sprout" is about Daniel Bradford, aka Sprout, a unique individual that has dyed his hair green and is also gay. And the thing is is that he though he knows he is gay, it's not like a secret or anything. He just doesn't want to come out to everyone at school, doesn't want the publicity or being known for that one aspect of his life. However, it's tough when your mom has passed away and your dad is always drunk, and on top of that he has just moved from his old home to some strange Kentucky place in the middle of nowhere. How is he going to win that state essay contest and find a boyfriend now...?

Goshh. I feel so many things for this book, and yet so little for it. I'm slightly dissapointed overall, I sorta feel bad cuz I expected a lot from it which is sorta unfair. Umm... where to go from here. Okay I'm going to start off by saying that I AM a male teenager who in many ways can relate to Sprout SITUATION-wise, I mean I'm not going to say it out right but I'm pretty sure you can guess what I mean when I say I know what he's going through the entire book... but uh yeah. So basically I am the target audience for the book, even though probably more people that weren't the intended target audience read it and liked it.

Moving on. What I wanted from this book was something... I don't know. Something that was simple and funny, or anything really. I guess I just wanted a character that I could relate to. Someone who knows what I am going through. At times I felt like I could connect to Sprout, but those times were limited. It's just that at the beggining his voice was really adult and not really teen-speak, at all. And even when it did become more teen-speak I felt he wasn't really communicating all that well, like he was constantly alluding to what he was trying to say instead of actually saying it. I'm pretty sure the author did this so that Sprout didn't seem really whiny, but idk, I found it hard to connect with him.

Plot plot plot. I had a real issue with the plot. Okay so basically NOTHING happens until Sprout meets a certain character, not saying who, and then at that point for the next like 50-100 pages I loved the book. Like, there was one moment where I started laughing out loud. Maybe that's why I'm giving the book three stars. But anyway, afterwards towards the end something else happens and the whole thing kinda breaks apart... I mean at one point Sprout's friend Ruthie tells him some news, and even though the news is big, it's pretty much not mentioned at all in the book after it was stated. Plot hole much?

So um yeah... I didn't really know what to say about this book and I think I kinda made my review unneccesarily long but oh wellz. It was funny at times but it wasn't a "What They Always Tell Us" or "Vast Fields of Ordinary". Not like I'm comparing, just saying. I need a good GLBT book! Rawrr. ...more

12 likes · Like · see review

Dec 08, 2009 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teen-lgbtqia

This book is compelling, literary, beautifully written with well developed characters, both adult and teen. It is smart, funny and heartbreaking and not predictable at all. My only problem with it is that I wanted more. I felt like all the character’s stories were left unfinished. I will be thinking about scenes of this book for a long time.

The basic plot is smart, irreverent, and funny gay teen in small town Kansas. Add an alcoholic father, dead mother, hilarious writing teacher, and interesti ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Sep 14, 2011 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen-reads, z-read-in-2011, gay, gay-high-schoolers, gay-pg, gay-closets

This is a great read about a young gay man coming into his own. He's smart and is intent on letting us know that. He's a writer and he loves playing word games -- almost as much as you'll love his style.

His situation is quirky and his life is complex, but he's charming and you quickly find yourself rooting for him.

While he's smart and able to take care of himself (and take care of an athletic bully who can't help tormenting him), when he meets another guy who's suffered a loss as big as his ow ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 09, 2016 A.M. Riley rated it it was amazing

It is so nice to read a well-written ya book with a gay protagonist. I am now working my way through Dale Peck's other books. Can't believe I only now discovered him. Fantastic! ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 07, 2009 Doug Beatty rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teen

Daniel, better known as Sprout, has moved with his father from Long Island to Kansas after the death of his mother. Sprout's father has not taken the death well, and refuses to get a job and has taken to drink, collecting stumps and allowing vines to cover the trailer that they live in. Sprout started dying his hair green and constantly gets green dye on his clothing, and his schoolwork. Sprout is a good writer, and the English teacher wants him to enter into a state wide essay contest, and whil ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 27, 2009 Jennifer Wardrip rated it liked it

Shelves: read-by-other-reviewers, trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Lauren Ashley for TeensReadToo.com

Sprout has seemingly made his life an open book: in a new town, people know that he lives in the trailer covered in vines, that his dad is the town drunk, and even that his mother passed away before he arrived. However, his being gay is supposed to be in that category and it's not completely that way. It does become known as the story goes on that he's gay, and I love that he doesn't have a problem with it, but it's still a bit of a secret for awhile Reviewed by Lauren Ashley for TeensReadToo.com

Sprout has seemingly made his life an open book: in a new town, people know that he lives in the trailer covered in vines, that his dad is the town drunk, and even that his mother passed away before he arrived. However, his being gay is supposed to be in that category and it's not completely that way. It does become known as the story goes on that he's gay, and I love that he doesn't have a problem with it, but it's still a bit of a secret for awhile.

This book is told through the point of view of Sprout and the set-up is a bit hard to explain, but reads a lot like essays strung together in an overall story. Things in the beginning are mentioned later on, but there are points when it seems the story starts over and focuses on something else and then goes back.

For example, the beginning of this deals a lot with a teacher and Sprout working on his essay writing in the summer so he can enter a competition that she believes he can win...only, of course, if he doesn't mention he's gay. Then the story stops talking about that for awhile and you focus more on a boy named Tyler that Sprout hates at first, but slowly starts to fall for. Eventually, the two parts line up for the end.

It might sound a bit confusing, but it seems to work overall. I found myself invested more in the Tyler part as the story goes on, but the completion is a big part of Sprout's life and truly shows how he changes in the end.

This isn't a happily-ever-after story, but it's not so depressing that you can't find the hope. That's something that Sprout always had to do...find hope and brightness in his sometimes messed up life. His relationship with Tyler was awkward and interesting and quite different than anything most people have read about, whether a straight or gay relationship. It seemed more realistic in a way. It wasn't "I'll love you forever" right away or even in the end. It was complicated and tough.

In the end, SPROUT is a different kind of book that would appeal to people looking for something a little off, a little goofy, a little sad, and a little lovely. ...more

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Feb 06, 2019 Saura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, glbt, audiobook

I feel like I read two different books at once, or that the author decided to change everything about his plot and characters midway through. The first part was funny and very engaging, but at around the midway point, when the character Ty appeared, the plot started to deteriorate into this messy romance, where both Sprout and Ty acted in ways that just did not make sense. Especially Ty's character was all over the place, and I never got a sense of what type of person he was, or what motivated h ...more

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May 02, 2011 J. rated it it was amazing

It has been a long time since a novel hit me this hard. Am I happy with the somewhat-cliche ending? No. But that doesn't stop it from being emotionally powerful. Incredible use of dialogue, and the narrator's voice is compelling. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Shriram rated it it was amazing

This was an amazing book that was beatifully written, i cared so, so much about each character, i wanted to know what happened to them, i actually really liked how everyone was characterised. Though i must admit there were a few parts which where not exactly believable but in the end, small things like that shouldn't get in the way of a great read. This book is A MUST. ...more

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