Bloomability by Sharon Creech (Harper Trophy, 1998)
genre: Realistic, friendship
ages: 10-14 years
honors: various awards master lists
review: Dinnie has been kidnapped and no one seems to care! Her aunt and uncle have taken her from her nomad existence with her constantly moving family to a settled life in a private American school in Switzerland… without asking what Dinnie thought!! Now she’s in a strange country with a bunch of other kids from other countries, and she’s expected to adapt and see this as an abundance of “bloomabiities.”
opinion: It’s a year of learning and growing for Dinnie; and as an older reader of the book, I could see this is how her aunt and uncle were trying to save Dinnie from the bleak future that sucked the life out of her brother (jail) and sister (quick marriage and early pregnancy). It was a chance for her to make her own choices, rather than be dragged along in her father’s nomadic whims.
ideas: Because Dinnie did move around so much, students could talk about the moves in their lives or draw maps. They could also talk about how hard it is to be the new kid in a classroom, and methods of welcoming a new kid to make for an easier transition.
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