Sprout (novel)
Encyclopedia
Sprout is a young adult gay novel
by American
author Dale Peck
first published in May 2009. The novel depicts an openly gay
teenage boy who moves to Kansas
after his mother dies from cancer
. While he struggles with harassment at school and two potential boyfriends, he has to decide if he will hide his sexual orientation in order to win a statewide essay-writing contest. An act of betrayal leads to the book's climax.
The book won the Lambda Literary Award
for LGBT Children's/Young Adult literature, and was a finalist for the Stonewall Book Award
in the Children's and Young Adult Literature category. Booklist
added the novel to its Rainbow List 2010, a bibliography of young adult books which include significant gay
, lesbian
, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning content.
Peck says he based some characters and plot in the book on his own experiences growing up on Long Island
, in New York
, and in Kansas.
. At times, it appears to be in the form of an essay or letter to the reader, but at other times it seems to be simply the protagonist
telling his story. Portions of the novel are told in flashback
, depicting Sprout's first few months in school. Much of the book is written in the stream of consciousness narrative style. Significant portions of the book focus on peer pressure
, the role social stratification
and social cohesion
play in rural life, and norms of social conservatism
.
The novel opens with Sprout making claims about whether people know about his homosexuality, his short height, his poverty, or his dead mother (among other things). But Sprout claims to have a secret, but it is a secret which everyone knows about. The nature of Sprout's open secret is a narrative framing device
which opens and closes the novel.
Sixteen-year-old Daniel Bradford is nickname
d Sprout because he is short. In a flashback, the reader learns that his mother dies of cancer
when he is 12 years old. His father has trouble dealing with her death and becomes an alcoholic
. Early one morning, Sprout's father announces they are leaving New York
and heading for Kansas
. Sprout's father buys a plot of tree-covered land near Hutchinson, Kansas
. The family takes up residence in a very small vacation trailer
. Sprout's father begins covering the trailer in vine
s, and plants upside-down tree roots all over the property. Sprout's father has no job; the family lives off the proceeds from the sale of their former home, and Sprout has little to eat.
In another flashback, Sprout reveals that he has trouble fitting in at his new school due to his New York accent, odd way of dressing, poverty, and lack of a mother. He is harassed by the school bully, Ian Abernathy, but is befriended by an eccentric tomboy
named Ruthie Wilcox. He distracts his peers from these facets of his life by dying his hair green (see the cover illustration). One day, after he and Ian both receive detention, the two boys wrestle. This leads to Ian initiating homosexual intercourse with Sprout. Sprout reveals that he and Ian continue to engage in sex over the next four years.
At the end of Sprout's sophomore year, he meets Mrs. Miller, who teaches English grammar and literature at the high school. Mrs. Miller has discovered that Sprout is an excellent writer. The state of Kansas sponsors a (fictional) statewide essay contest. Over the past several years, Mrs. Miller has coached many students who have entered this contest, and her students have won the event more times than any other teacher in the state. During the summer, Mrs. Miller has Sprout come to her home each day to be coached by her. Sprout learns that Mrs. Miller, too, may have a drinking problem. Mrs. Miller meets Sprout's father, and the two begin a relationship. Both adults also learn that Sprout is gay
and has been having sex with Ian Abernathy. Mrs. Miller counsels Sprout to not mention his homosexuality in his essay, for fear it would alienate the politically conservative
judges. That same summer, Sprout's relationship with Ruthie grows cold for several reasons.
Shortly after the start of his junior year, Sprout meets Ty Petit, a local Kansas boy whose father is a violent man who appears to believe in the Christian Patriot movement. (Ty's father idolizes Timothy McVeigh
.) The Petit children were abandoned by their mother, which has left Ty with severe emotional issues—made worse by his father's constant child abuse
. Sprout falls instantly in love with Ty. Ty, however, asserts he is not a homosexual (even though he and Sprout begin to have sex with one another). Ty and Sprout become close friends, and have several emotionally intense experiences together. Sprout also learns about a deep secret in Ty's past. The climax of the novel centers around Sprout's betrayal of Ty at a critical moment. Several other major issues are addressed (including Sprout's open secret) in the novel's few remaining pages.
called the book "a poignant novel about coming out and coming of age." It "has a lot to teach all ages about the oft encouraged but never easy process of being yourself and accepting yourself." A review in The Horn Book Magazine was equally positive: "Structurally effective, caustically entertaining, unpreachy, and thought-provoking, Sprout is a satisfying look at the truths one young man unearths about himself." Daniel Kraus, writing in Booklist, lauded the way that the author handles the movement of characters like Ruthie, Ian, Mrs. Miller, and Ty in and out of the story, calling this "both absorbing and jarring." He gave the novel a glowing review: "But the prose is as intelligent and playful as Sprout himself... The lengthy, leisurely chapters allow readers to live through the characters rather than view them as mere plot pushers, and the result is a story rarely content to move in conventional directions." A reviewer for School Library Journal
enjoyed Peck's use of vocabulary and cultural references (such as to Guns & Ammo magazine and the Borg cube
), noting this "will intrigue readers who enjoyed Lemony Snicket
's built-in definitions in their younger years." Critic and author Richard Labonte described the book as "More an 'out, so what' than a classic coming out story," and called it "charming yet sharp-edged".
Kirkus Reviews
gave the book a mixed but overall very positive review. "Peck's first aimed squarely at the YA audience is, at times, charming. Sprout's narrative voice is strong and realistic, and his observations are entertaining. As a whole, though, there're just too many issues. Add to the above: dating parent, teen pregnancy, betrayals of and by friends. Dedicated readers, especially young gays in the square states, will identify—and it's important enough for that reason." School Library Journal also found flaws in the novel, concluding that the adult characters were not realistic and that some passages in the novel bordered on the sexually crude.
Overseas reviews were mixed. A review in Melbourne, Australia's The Age
newspaper concluded: "Queer teen fiction is flourishing, and the strength of Dale Peck's protagonist—sardonic, intellectually curious and impossibly sure of his identity—makes Sprout one of the more winning examples of it." However, reviewer Vicky Edwards in Adelaide
's Sunday Mail found the extensive vocabulary daunting, the plot slow, and the conclusion rushed.
Gay novel
A gay novel deals with homosexual love between men. Novels that deal with homosexual love between women are usually referred to as lesbian novels....
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author Dale Peck
Dale Peck
Dale Peck is an American novelist, critic, and columnist. His 2009 novel, Sprout, won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children's/Young Adult literature, and was a finalist for the Stonewall Book Award in the Children's and Young Adult Literature category.-Biography:Peck was raised in Kansas,...
first published in May 2009. The novel depicts an openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
teenage boy who moves to Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
after his mother dies from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. While he struggles with harassment at school and two potential boyfriends, he has to decide if he will hide his sexual orientation in order to win a statewide essay-writing contest. An act of betrayal leads to the book's climax.
The book won the Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
for LGBT Children's/Young Adult literature, and was a finalist for the Stonewall Book Award
Stonewall Book Award
Sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association , the Stonewall Book Award is for LGBT books...
in the Children's and Young Adult Literature category. Booklist
Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
added the novel to its Rainbow List 2010, a bibliography of young adult books which include significant gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning content.
Peck says he based some characters and plot in the book on his own experiences growing up on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and in Kansas.
Plot synopsis
The novel is written in the first person singularGrammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
. At times, it appears to be in the form of an essay or letter to the reader, but at other times it seems to be simply the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
telling his story. Portions of the novel are told in flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
, depicting Sprout's first few months in school. Much of the book is written in the stream of consciousness narrative style. Significant portions of the book focus on peer pressure
Peer pressure
Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
, the role social stratification
Social stratification
In sociology the social stratification is a concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."...
and social cohesion
Social cohesion
Social cohesion is a term used in social policy, sociology and political science to describe the bonds or "glue" that bring people together in society, particularly in the context of cultural diversity. Social cohesion is a multi-faceted notion covering many different kinds of social phenomena...
play in rural life, and norms of social conservatism
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
.
The novel opens with Sprout making claims about whether people know about his homosexuality, his short height, his poverty, or his dead mother (among other things). But Sprout claims to have a secret, but it is a secret which everyone knows about. The nature of Sprout's open secret is a narrative framing device
Framing device
The term framing device refers to the usage of the same single action, scene, event, setting, or any element of significance at both the beginning and end of an artistic, musical, or literary work. The repeated element thus creates a ‘frame’ within which the main body of work can develop.The...
which opens and closes the novel.
Sixteen-year-old Daniel Bradford is nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d Sprout because he is short. In a flashback, the reader learns that his mother dies of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
when he is 12 years old. His father has trouble dealing with her death and becomes an alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. Early one morning, Sprout's father announces they are leaving New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and heading for Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. Sprout's father buys a plot of tree-covered land near Hutchinson, Kansas
Hutchinson, Kansas
Hutchinson is the largest city in and the county seat of Reno County, Kansas, United States, northwest of Wichita, on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch"...
. The family takes up residence in a very small vacation trailer
Recreational vehicle
Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...
. Sprout's father begins covering the trailer in vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
s, and plants upside-down tree roots all over the property. Sprout's father has no job; the family lives off the proceeds from the sale of their former home, and Sprout has little to eat.
In another flashback, Sprout reveals that he has trouble fitting in at his new school due to his New York accent, odd way of dressing, poverty, and lack of a mother. He is harassed by the school bully, Ian Abernathy, but is befriended by an eccentric tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
named Ruthie Wilcox. He distracts his peers from these facets of his life by dying his hair green (see the cover illustration). One day, after he and Ian both receive detention, the two boys wrestle. This leads to Ian initiating homosexual intercourse with Sprout. Sprout reveals that he and Ian continue to engage in sex over the next four years.
At the end of Sprout's sophomore year, he meets Mrs. Miller, who teaches English grammar and literature at the high school. Mrs. Miller has discovered that Sprout is an excellent writer. The state of Kansas sponsors a (fictional) statewide essay contest. Over the past several years, Mrs. Miller has coached many students who have entered this contest, and her students have won the event more times than any other teacher in the state. During the summer, Mrs. Miller has Sprout come to her home each day to be coached by her. Sprout learns that Mrs. Miller, too, may have a drinking problem. Mrs. Miller meets Sprout's father, and the two begin a relationship. Both adults also learn that Sprout is gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and has been having sex with Ian Abernathy. Mrs. Miller counsels Sprout to not mention his homosexuality in his essay, for fear it would alienate the politically conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
judges. That same summer, Sprout's relationship with Ruthie grows cold for several reasons.
Shortly after the start of his junior year, Sprout meets Ty Petit, a local Kansas boy whose father is a violent man who appears to believe in the Christian Patriot movement. (Ty's father idolizes Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy James McVeigh was a United States Army veteran and security guard who detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995...
.) The Petit children were abandoned by their mother, which has left Ty with severe emotional issues—made worse by his father's constant child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
. Sprout falls instantly in love with Ty. Ty, however, asserts he is not a homosexual (even though he and Sprout begin to have sex with one another). Ty and Sprout become close friends, and have several emotionally intense experiences together. Sprout also learns about a deep secret in Ty's past. The climax of the novel centers around Sprout's betrayal of Ty at a critical moment. Several other major issues are addressed (including Sprout's open secret) in the novel's few remaining pages.
Critical reception
Critic Greg Morago of the Houston ChronicleHouston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
called the book "a poignant novel about coming out and coming of age." It "has a lot to teach all ages about the oft encouraged but never easy process of being yourself and accepting yourself." A review in The Horn Book Magazine was equally positive: "Structurally effective, caustically entertaining, unpreachy, and thought-provoking, Sprout is a satisfying look at the truths one young man unearths about himself." Daniel Kraus, writing in Booklist, lauded the way that the author handles the movement of characters like Ruthie, Ian, Mrs. Miller, and Ty in and out of the story, calling this "both absorbing and jarring." He gave the novel a glowing review: "But the prose is as intelligent and playful as Sprout himself... The lengthy, leisurely chapters allow readers to live through the characters rather than view them as mere plot pushers, and the result is a story rarely content to move in conventional directions." A reviewer for School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
enjoyed Peck's use of vocabulary and cultural references (such as to Guns & Ammo magazine and the Borg cube
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
), noting this "will intrigue readers who enjoyed Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
's built-in definitions in their younger years." Critic and author Richard Labonte described the book as "More an 'out, so what' than a classic coming out story," and called it "charming yet sharp-edged".
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
gave the book a mixed but overall very positive review. "Peck's first aimed squarely at the YA audience is, at times, charming. Sprout's narrative voice is strong and realistic, and his observations are entertaining. As a whole, though, there're just too many issues. Add to the above: dating parent, teen pregnancy, betrayals of and by friends. Dedicated readers, especially young gays in the square states, will identify—and it's important enough for that reason." School Library Journal also found flaws in the novel, concluding that the adult characters were not realistic and that some passages in the novel bordered on the sexually crude.
Overseas reviews were mixed. A review in Melbourne, Australia's The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
newspaper concluded: "Queer teen fiction is flourishing, and the strength of Dale Peck's protagonist—sardonic, intellectually curious and impossibly sure of his identity—makes Sprout one of the more winning examples of it." However, reviewer Vicky Edwards in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
's Sunday Mail found the extensive vocabulary daunting, the plot slow, and the conclusion rushed.