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Title: Bloomability
ISBN: 006440823X
Author:
Sharon Creech
Publicate Date: 1999-09-30
Publish: 1999-09-30
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $0.01
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: enjoyable book with not a few good lessons for readers
Preface to the review: I have to admit that it took a lot of trolling around before I found a book to review this Wednesday. It's not that I don't have a lot of as yet un-reviewed books that I like. The problem is I read some of them a long time ago. The other problem is that while a lot of them feature very obviously awesome/strong female characters, many of them are written by men. Which is great. It's just given me pause because my initial plan was books with strong female characters written by women authors. Given my recent difficulties, though, I have decided to lift the female author rule because it's just getting too hard. That said, I apparently read this book in 2001 but only realized it after checking if it was on my goodreads account as read. To be fair, 2001 was squarely during my "book-a-day" reading phase so my forgetting it might say more about me than about the book. But in the spirit of full-disclosure I thought that you, my readers, should have the full story. And now you do. (And, in the sake of even fuller disclosure, the review was late because I wound up rereading the entire book and it took longer than I thought.)
Sharon Creech won the Newbery Medal for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children" in 1994 for her novel Walk Two Moons. Bloomability, from 1998, is one of Creech's later novels for children.
Thirteen-year-old Domenica Santolina Doone, known to almost everyone as Dinnie, does not have what most people would consider a mundane life, let alone an average one.
"In my first life, I lived with my mother, and my older brother and sister, Crick and Stella, and with my father when he wasn't on the road."
As Dinnie's father, a Jack-of-all-trades by name and choice, moves across the country in search of new "opportunities," Dinnie and her family follow.
"By the time I was twelve, we'd followed my father from Kentucky to Virginia to North Carolina to Tennessee to Ohio to Indiana to Wisconsin to Oklahoma to Oregon to Texas to California to New Mexico. My things fit in one box."
There was also a stint in Arkansas so brief that it escaped Dinnie's recollection. As some readers might have guessed, this lifestyle did not always work out for the family. The crux of the novel begins when Dinnie makes this series of observations:
"Dad was on the road, Crick was in jail, and Stella was having a baby.
And that was the last week of my first life."
That's when Dinnie is kidnapped by two complete strangers. At least, that's how it seems to Dinnie. No one else seems to agree. But, just because she met her Aunt Sandy and Uncle Max twice before, it doesn't make them like her real family. At least, not right away.
Dinnie's aunt and uncle take her off to Switzerland for an opportunity of her own as a student the school where Max will be headmaster and Sandy a teacher. At first, Dinnie doesn't see how any of that is an opportunity. But then she gets to the school and starts to meet some of the other students. Coming from all over the world, and from many different cultures, everyone is different. For the first time in Dinnie's life, she isn't the only stranger. Miles away from her family and in a foreign country, Dinnie might finally have a chance to find herself.
Along the way, she also finds friends (and family) that she never would have encountered anywhere else. Creech does a great job here of showing different cultures. The book is a nice example of a truly international book. It also might teach readers a thing or two about the importance of tolerance. In fact, I'm sure it could be used in a variety of classes as a teaching tool even if I can't get into all of the ideas in this review. It's also written in a very authentic, humorous voice.
The title of this book, Bloomability, refers to possibilities--a recurring theme in the novel. Dinnie isn't happy about a lot of the things she has to do, but as she soon learns, every change is an opportunity and a new possibility. On a personal level, this book is actually a really relevant review for the week, and I'm sure most other readers would also find it has some valuable insight to offer during times of change.
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2: 6th grade advanced student assignment
This is my sons pursuasive essay for his advance language arts class. His assignment was to talk another classmate into reading this book. He has enjoyed this class and the other readings. I had to constantly remind him to finish this book.
"Sharon Creech is a Newberry Medal author, yet I can't recommend her book, Bloomability, to my classmates. She can't relate to American 6th grade students. It's the worst reading assignment I've had in 6th grade. I am so glad I'm done reading it.
I would have like to read about technology and science instead of about the mountains and how beautiful and white they are. The author uses many words from European languages which could be cool, but half the time, didn't explain the meaning of the words. It made it hard to concentrate on the story. I like books like the girl trilogy by Lauren Myracle. The girls talk about boys and secrets.
The Language Arts Class had more choices of novels to read than Advanced. Doing so many assignments on the same boring book got old. I feel like I said the same thing over and over. Would the curriculum committee please consider giving the advanced students more choices for their module five novel."
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3: An Exquisite Book
Bloomability by Sharon Creech is an exquisite book that makes me want to try something new. This book gets five out of five stars because there is nothing wrong with this book. This is an excellent book that leaves you thinking like the characters. Readers that like other Sharon Creech books or like Linda Urban will love Bloomability. In Bloomability Dinnie moves to Switzerland without her family and feels lost. Read Bloomability to find out if she stays in Switzerland.
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4: Bloomability
Bloomability is a book about adventure and the great things that can come from them. This book is about twelve year old Domenica Santolina Doone, and what she has learned from moving from place to place. Following her father, she keeps herself from getting attached to anywhere or anyone because everything is gone before she knows it.
In this book, Dinnie is taken to Switzerland with her Aunt Sandy and her Uncle Max. Dinnie is confused and scared and doesn't know why she was taken to Switzerland with her aunt and uncle. She decides that she was "kidnapped". This book is about Dinnie and her adventures that she has with her friends Lila, Mari, Belen, Keisuke and Guthrie. Dinnie's friends teach her that life is too short to not enjoy every moment, and that its okay to let people into your "bubble". Along the way of Dinnie's adventures, she learns that sometimes life gives you forks in the road, and that either way you go it was meant to be. Throughout the book, Dinnie is trying to decide if she is falling for Guthrie, and when something happens to him she realizes how special he really is. Will Guthrie be okay and will they get together? Will Dinnie ever see her family again? Find out in Bloomability!
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5: AN INCREDIBLE BOOK
This is the best book I have read in a while; it is really a breath of fresh air. The characters are more complex, and the story line is more interesting, than any of her past books. Therefore I don't recommend it to novice readers. It is true beauty.
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