Sticks and Stones

Published in 1972, Sticks and Stones is a contemporary young adult novel by American author Lynn Hall. A prolific writer, Hall has authored more than fifty books for children and young adults. Sticks and Stones tells the story of high-school senior Tom Naylor, a new kid in a small town, whose life falls apart when he becomes the victim of a rumor that he is a homosexual. Tom’s experiences call attention to issues of prejudice, intolerance, injustice, and the healing power of friendship.

It is the end of summer vacation in the insular town of Buck Creek, Iowa, population just under one hundred. Tom Naylor and his mother, Charlotte, have lived in the small town for one year since leaving their Chicago suburb after Charlotte’s divorce from Tom’s father.

Tom loves Buck Creek and the fact that he knows every person in town. He enjoys living in The Cottage, their small house with a gift store on the first floor. Tom is feeling good about his upcoming senior year. He plans to ask Karen, a girl he’s had his eye on, out for a date, and he is excited about the chance to make it to the state music contest and hopefully win a college scholarship. Tom, a competitive pianist, is a sensitive, intelligent young man. The only thing Tom is missing is a good friend.



Floyd Schleffe wants to fill that gap. Floyd is an outcast in Buck Creek. He is overweight, sloppy, and has a sour smell about him. He has just flunked summer school and learned that, at the age of sixteen, he must repeat ninth grade again. Floyd has no friends and pins his hopes for a buddy on Tom. When Tom first arrives in town, he reluctantly visits Floyd a few times but realizes Floyd isn’t someone he wants to be friends with: Tom can’t stand Floyd’s “dense crudeness.” But Floyd leeches on to Tom. When Tom curtly rebuffs Floyd’s friendship, Floyd’s feelings toward Tom change from admiration to bitterness at what he sees as Tom’s superiority.

Amber Showalter wants Tom for a boyfriend, but her attempts to get Tom to notice her fall flat. She feels slighted, believing Tom is stupid for passing her by. Amber thinks Tom feels he is too good for her.

When Ward Alexander, a recently discharged Air Force veteran, returns to Buck Creek, Tom finds the friend he has been looking for. Ward is in his early twenties, with a young face but older eyes. He is squarely built and almost as tall as Tom. Ward, an aspiring writer, is renovating an old schoolhouse on his family’s property. Ward stops in The Cottage and enjoys Tom’s piano playing. The two go out for a drink. Tom has a “giddy sense of well-being,” and he feels “absolutely equal” to Ward. They become friends immediately.



Floyd hears gossip that Ward was discharged from the military because he is a homosexual. Floyd sees Tom and Ward together and speculates vengefully that Tom is a “homo” too. This thought lightens “the burden of his inferiority.” Floyd wastes no time telling Amber that Tom is a “homo” and elaborates on the lie by implying that Tom did something to him when they were friends initially. Amber tells her friend Meredith, who is skeptical. She reminds Amber that Floyd lies, saying, “It’s a terrible thing to go around saying about somebody if you’re not sure whether it’s true or not.”

Ignoring Meredith, Amber spreads the rumor to Beulah, the forty-one-year-old bar waitress. Amber embellishes the lie further, adding that she knows Tom got in trouble for the same thing at his old school. Beulah, single and looking for attention, passes the rumor to handsome high school P.E. teacher, Ray Harmon.

Tom, meanwhile, is oblivious to the talk about him. He hangs out with Ward, helping him restore the schoolhouse, talking about Ward’s book, sharing dinners and conversation together. When school starts, Tom can’t understand why people seem unfriendly, and why he feels so isolated. Only music and spending time with Ward make him feel better.



Tom qualifies for the state music competition but things at school become more uncomfortable. Principal McNamar tells Tom he cannot go to the state finals because he is a homosexual and the other parents do not want Tom to be with their kids. At last, Tom understands what all the whispers and the ostracization have been about. He denies that he is a homosexual, but McNamar declares that “can’t be proved or disproved,” and refuses to let him attend.

Tom is crushed. He wonders if everyone can see something in him that he can’t. He grows even more isolated, is unable to concentrate, and his grades plummet. Tom vows to fight the rumor, but since no one will talk about it openly, there is no one to confront. Tom finds comfort in talking with Ward until Ward admits that his medical discharge was not for asthma, as he claimed, but “homosexual involvement.” Ward tells Tom that he is the most important person in Ward’s life and “any genuine love is a good and necessary thing.” Tom feels betrayed, as he has lost his only friend. He stops seeing Ward but misses him terribly.

McNamar tells Tom that he has failed the first semester and will not graduate with his class. After meeting with McNamar, Tom finds Floyd sitting in his car, gloating over Tom’s failure. Tom drives angrily and recklessly in the winter conditions. The windshield wiper quits working and Tom crashes, killing Floyd. In the hospital with his eyes bandaged and suffering from broken ribs, collarbone, and ankle, Tom realizes, “The talkers and the pointers had undermined him. They had touched him with the acid of their suspicions, and the corrosion had spread until he himself had lost sight of the truth.” Tom hears Ward enter the hospital room. Tom reaches for his friend’s hand, saying “I’m glad you came.”