Review of Sprout by Dale Peck

Sprout by Dale Peck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What really caught my attention about this book, wasn't the secret that Sprout was trying (or not trying) to tell. It was all the other things. I guess that was the point of the book. His secret wasn't really a secret. It was something, as he states towards the end of the book, that everyone knew but him.

I loved the truth behind this book. The way it's written, allowed me as the reader to be placed directly into Sprout's shoes. This wasn't just because it was told in first person. Going back and forth between the current story and the essays that told about his past is what helped me to fully understand him as a person. It comes down to the basic idea that Sprout new who is was, but was afraid that other people would judge him for it. How could he not think this way? His father judged him by not caring, his teacher judged him by caring too much, and his best friend judged him merely out of jealousy. The one thing that really defined him became something of a ball and chain. So he fixated on other aspects of himself - more physical ones to be more exact - such as dying his hair green.

To me, his green hair gave the other kids a more tangible thing to make fun of versus the other, more personal thing that would have actually hurt a lot more. Being gay wasn't his "secret", but really it was the thing that formed his problem: not being able to say, "I love you".



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