Smith, Andrew.
STICK
New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2011.
IL YA
ISBN 0312613415

     

They call me Stick.

 I am six feet tall, an inch taller than my brother, Bosten, who is in eleventh grade.

I’m thirteen, and a stick. 

 …and I’m ugly.

I have only one ear.  I was born that way. 

If you look closely you’ll notice, and then you won’t be able to look away.

I’m Stick, and this is my story.

Fourteen-year-old Stark McClellan, also known as “Stick,” has never really fit in.  Labeled as “deformed,” Stick has had to deal with the bullying and teasing of being born with only one ear his entire life.  Not to mention that his parents smoke, drink, beat Stick and his brother, Bosten, and lock them up for days at a time.  Definitely not what you would call “normal.”

This is all that Stick has ever known.  He’s used to it by now.  However, things are about to change, for better, or for worse.  When Stick’s father finds out that Bosten is gay, his reaction isn’t pretty.  Bosten leaves home to go find a place where he can truly be accepted and escape from their boring town and oppressive parents.  He’s gone without a trace, and Stick knows that he has to find him… before it’s too late. 
(Booktalk by the Sequoya Youth Book Award committee, 2014)