A review by katymul
Bloomability by Sharon Creech

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I was all prepared to be snarky about "the middle grade Eat Pray Love" book, but the more I read, the more I found the book to be gentle, warm, and emotionally intelligent. The set-up of the book -- the youngest child of a family in a series of crises is swept away by rich-adjacent relatives to a European boarding school adventure -- is almost fairy tale, but after we get our heroine to this new place...kind of nothing happens. Events happen. She makes some friends and they have little adventures, but the real work and forward progress of the book is her slow, carefully unpacking a series of complex emotional burden she has long carried. The delicacy with which her aunt and uncle treat her emotional journey is a welcome relief after reading many books written at the same time as Bloomability, and the book itself also gives our heroine the time to unpack her complicated emotions and decide which of them to carry forward with her. I also give the book props for ending on such an ambiguous note -- for almost every character too!