Gscene News Archive

This lovely book from Dale Peck (him of ‘Martin & John’ fame) is a brilliantly warm and clever read. It was a delight to turn the pages and sent me scurrying off to my dictionary more than once, but that’s part of the story. It’s an intellectually teasing, touching and very funny story and made me laugh and moved me to the point of tears; not something this cynical old reviewer often does. It’s avoids stereotypes and clichés and handles this tricky subject with a careful verve.

The story is wonderfully interwoven and concerns a teenager – Sprout. When Sprout and his alcoholic widower father move from Long Island to the midst of rural Kansas after the death of his mother, he is sure he will find no friends, no love, no beauty. But friends find him, the strangeness of the landscape fascinates him, and when love shows up in an unexpected place, Sprout realizes that Kansas is not quite as empty as he thought it was going to be.

He’s guided by his wonderful and delightfully subversive English teacher – Mrs. Miller, who’s got more than a touch of the Ms Jean Brodie about her. It’s a beautifully crafted tale, folded into a literary story of a boy who knows he is gay in a town that seems to have no place for him to hide.

Gritty, funny, empowering – a coming-of-age story that any teenagers, gay or otherwise will relate to, and any adult , young–at-heart or otherwise will enjoy.

So good I read it twice!

Out now £6.99
Available from the publisher online www.bloomsbury.com
Or from any good bookshop