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Sprout
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Sprout (2009) (edit title/settings)

by Dale Peck (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

How many secrets can you hide in plain sight?   Sprout Bradford has a secret. It’s not what you think—he’ll tell you he’s gay. He’ll tell you about his dad’s drinking and his mother’s death. The green fingerprints everywhere tell you when he last dyed his hair. But neither the reader nor... read more

Summary edit see section history

After his mom passes away from cancer, Daniel "Sprout" Bradford and his dad take off and leave their home on Long Island, New York and end up in a small town in Kansas. In a small town where everyone has known eachother since forever, Sprout is seen as strange, wierd, etc. Especially because... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

After his mom passes away from cancer, Daniel "Sprout" Bradford and his dad take off and leave their home on Long Island, New York and end up in a small town in Kansas. In a small town where everyone has known eachother since forever, Sprout is seen as strange, wierd, etc. Especially because he dyes his hair green, and although he has never officially "come out", almost everyone knows he's gay. He starts being targetted by Ian Abernathy, the typical middle school bully. Sprout doesn't seem to have any friends, until one day a girl in his class named Ruthie stands up for him and tells Ian to buzz off. What nobody knows, however, is that something is going on between Sprout and Ian. Ruthie and Sprout, however, become good friends and remain very close friends until the year Sprout meets Ms. Miller.

Ms. Miller is an english teacher who finds Sprout to be an extraordinary writer, and she insists that he enters the State Essay Contest. But in order for Sprout to be ready for the contest, he must train. He ends up spending a lot of time working with Ms. Miller (at her house) over the entire summer, and they become almost like friends. With Ruthie spending her summer in England, Sprout almost forgets about her entirely. Ms. Miller sets a time limit, and tells Sprout to just write whatever he feels he should. Sprout tells her he wants to write about being gay, but Ms. Miller reminds him that he is writing to a bunch of small-minded Kansas residents. Sprout isn't happy about this, but he understand. To complicate things even more, Ms. Miller starts dating Sprout's father. Mr. Bradford is an alcoholic, and quite frankly he's a little crazy. He collects tree stumps and places them randomly in the front lawn. He also let wild vines grow all over his trailor-home.

Everything changes when Ty moves to town. Ty is religious, a little odd, and victim to an abusive father. What starts out as friendship between the two boys grows into something that neither of them could have imagined possible. Sprout struggles with figuring out everything thats going on regarding his sexuality and this new relationship. However, they must keep everything a secret or Ty's father will kill them both. Sprout soon discovers that there's a lot more to Ty's troubled past than Ty had first shown. The two boys depend on each other and develop a strong bond. Back at school, Sprout is shocked to see Ruthie dating none other than his former-lover, Ian Abernathy. And to put an even bigger twist on it, Ruthie's pregnant. But later on, when Sprout and Ty and caught red-handed and put on the spot by Ruthie, Sprout acts as if its nothing special at the same time that Ty confesses his love. Ty, naturally, is heart-broken. What happens next leaves Sprout hurt and ashamed of himself. Two weeks later, he heads to the State Essay Contest. Ms. Miller changes her mind and tells him to write whatever he feels is right, and if that means he writes about his sexuality then so be it. In the end, we discover that the entire novel was actually Sprout's essay, which of course won the contest.

Characters/People edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Gay is an adjective, not a noun.”
    Sprout Bradford
  • “Don't misunderstand me. This is not how I feel. This is just me saying that I don't know the words to write to say how I feel."”
    Sprout Bradford
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • “You picked the pink one, didn’t you?” “I did.” “You are such a homosexual.”
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • “And if I do do this thing,” I said, talking over her, “I want to write about being gay.” There was a long silence, and then I giggled. “I said do-do.”
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • (“Dad, I won’t get a tattoo of a teardrop on my cheek if you let me have the car on Saturdays.” “Sounds like a deal, son.”)
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • War is fought for the sake of freedom or democracy or self-defense, and not because it happens to make some people very, very rich. Right.
    Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
  • it’s hard to look at the past and forget what you know about the future.
    Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers
  • I thought it was a little pretentious to say “You are Sprout Bradford?” instead of “Are you Sprout Bradford?” so I said, “I are Sprout Bradford!” in my best half-hick, half-retard voice.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • The truth is, that’s how it gets power over you. Not when you’re open about it, but when you have to spend all your energy keeping it secret.”
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • Kansas: the home of Rev. Fred Phelps, the founder of GodHatesFags.com and the guy who crashed Matthew Shepherd’s funeral with signs proclaiming that he got what was coming to him.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • Hollywood actors marry for love, not money, fame, or hiding the fact that one (or both) of them is gay. Sure they do.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
  • Check it out: www.thestumpman.com. Make sure you type thestumpman, or you’re going to end up seeing something you really don’t want to.
    Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Show all 12 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

I have a secret.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Dale Peck (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 1599901609
Page Count: 288

Awards edit see section history

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