Sprout by Dale Peck

Daniel "Sprout" Bradford has a secret, but it isn't what you think.  Sprout's secret has nothing to do with his green hair, his romantic relationship, his mother's death, or his father's drinking.  After his mother died four years ago, Sprout's father packed him in the car and drove from Long Island to the middle of nowhere - in this case, Buhler, Kansas - where he and Sprout live in a trailer covered in vines and surrounded by a collection of upside-down tree stumps. 

Tapped by his hard-drinking but no-nonsense English teacher to compete in the statewide Kansas essay contest, Sprout spends the summer before his junior year under her tutelage.  Mrs. Miller urges Sprout to divulge his secrets, both public and private. 

Sprout is an intelligent and wisecracking narrator, and the novel is full of wordplay.  But until Sprout begins talking about his first relationships, we really don't know much about him.  From his purely physical relationship with jock Ian to his feelings for the new kid Ty, Sprout's romantic entanglements force him explore his own motivations and desires.  But will this self-examination come too late?  Sprout: Or My Salad Days, When I was Green in Judgment is a poignant, entertaining look at growing up gay in small-town America.