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pissmin's review against another edition
Can I give this six or seven stars? Pleease?
satyridae's review against another edition
3.0
This book has a truly violent and scary underlayer. Sprout is a complex and interesting young man, and he's surrounded by odd characters and strange reverberations from his past. His mom's dead, his dad's a drunk, his kinda-sorta-boyfriend's.. well, that'd be a spoiler. The characters are well-drawn and eccentric. I'm not really sure how I feel about this one- it's disturbing and unresolved and what Wendy Burton would probably call a 'boy book' in a slightly dismissive tone. Peck's work has been hit or miss for me, with the standout being [b:Drift House: The First Voyage|19983|Drift House The First Voyage|Dale Peck|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167290872s/19983.jpg|1931660]. This, for me, doesn't reach those giddy heights, but it's certainly worth a read for the disorientation factor alone.
amysaura's review against another edition
3.0
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 him. Sprout (Daniel) was more clearly drawn out, at least in the first part of the book, but he also started losing some of what made him engaging at the start.
Some characters that were introduced in the start of the book, like Ruthie and Ian, I did not see the point of. I liked Mrs. Miller and Sprout's dad, but there were some plot threats there that were never addressed again.
This does not mean that I did not like the book, because I actually did. It just had more potential and I feel kind of sad that the author didn't do more with that potential. Sprout was a great character, someone who I've never seen in YA before, but changed, as I said, midway through and turned into a love-sick teenage boy like any other, which is a shame.
Some characters that were introduced in the start of the book, like Ruthie and Ian, I did not see the point of. I liked Mrs. Miller and Sprout's dad, but there were some plot threats there that were never addressed again.
This does not mean that I did not like the book, because I actually did. It just had more potential and I feel kind of sad that the author didn't do more with that potential. Sprout was a great character, someone who I've never seen in YA before, but changed, as I said, midway through and turned into a love-sick teenage boy like any other, which is a shame.
waltercorgkite's review against another edition
5.0
Sprout is a really funny book and quite a witty guy.
No spoilers here, but I certainly recommend this book to writers, youths who feel lost, adults who feel lost and anyone just wanting to really get away and perhaps help find themselves in the pages of a book.
No spoilers here, but I certainly recommend this book to writers, youths who feel lost, adults who feel lost and anyone just wanting to really get away and perhaps help find themselves in the pages of a book.
alarra's review against another edition
4.0
Narrated by Sprout Bradford, a smart-alec, smart-writing kid in a small town who can't help but stand out (drunk dad, green hair, gay) as he trains for a national essay writing competition that will give him a chance to get out of this small existence, that forces him to examine a few secrets he has been keeping. Sprout's voice is at first too knowing, peppered with pop culture references that ring false, but it settles down as Sprout starts to write more honestly about himself, and reveals himself to the reader little by little. It's bitingly funny, there's a bittersweet romance, a nebulous ending, and depite the fact it's yet another coming-of-age YA novel I *loved* it.
falconerreader's review against another edition
4.0
I did not want this book to end the way it did. When Sprout denies Ty, I actually started crying. Why, Daniel, why? Still, there is a lot to love about the story and Sprout's voice.
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