I was going back through my list of books that I had bought over the years and this one sprang to mind.  I think it is the cover that got me to read it.  Teenager with greenhair just begs the question why.  

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Amazon Blurb - When Sprout and his father move from Long Island to 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, it proves impossible to hold. An incredible, literary story of a boy who knows he's gay, and the town that seems to have no place for him to hide.

This is definitely a layered story.  It has great character development and is interesting. I definitely found it worth the read.