Blast from the Past: "Bloomability" by Sharon Creech

As you can see from our bios, we were all big readers as kids, which probably is why we read so much now. When we started talking about what we wanted to do on She’s Full of Lit, rereading childhood faves came up again and again. To be honest, I was a little nervous — would it still hold up? would I still love these books? — and a little excited. Below, here’s my first: “Bloomability” by Sharon Creech.

Synopsis: Kidnapped! The kidnappers are actually her Aunt Sandy and Uncle Max, but that doesn't matter to Domenica Santolina Doone, better known as Dinnie. She feels as if she's being taken out of the country against her will. Certainly no one asked her opinion. Dinnie is used to change-with her family constantly moving from state to state while her father searches for one new "opportunity" after another. But when her aunt and uncle whisk her away to an international school in Lugano, Switzerland, Dinnie feels that this might be one "opportunity" that isn't right for her.

Suddenly Dinnie's surrounded by kids from many different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. Home, and her first life, seem so far away. Can she adapt to a new country, a new home, and new friends? Or will it just be easier to close herself off-just survive-and never realize all the "bloomabilities" that are possible?

Pre-read Recollections: This is a book that I remember reading over and over again in middle school — so much so that I lost the cover, and one of my tactile memories of it is that it had a turquoise and red cover that was soft to the touch. I remember that Dinnie, the main character, was swept away from her family (somewhat against her will) to go to school in Europe. I remember that she went skiing in the Alps and ate raclette — something that I did in my early thirties because of her (well, the raclette, not the skiing. I don’t have a death wish). In my eighth grade English class, I actually used this as my book report work one quarter, and I made a board game (like The Game of Life) that took you through Dinnie’s adventures. This book was so foreign to my childhood in Mobile, Alabama, and I couldn’t imagine ever getting to go on those sorts of adventures.

Adult Reading Thoughts: I didn’t need to be worried - this book definitely holds up, and I remembered by page 5 why I loved it so much as a kid. I went to a small school for thirteen years, and within that space, I was never one of the “cool” kids (don’t get me wrong, I had friends and I had a generally pleasant high school experience). I liked to read, I wasn’t particularly athletic, and my favorite extracurricular was Youth in Government. So, this resonated:

Another thing that was different about this school was that it was cool to study and to try out for the play or the soccer team or swim team. it was cool to take art or photography even if you weren’t ‘artistic,’ and it was cool to sign up for weekend trips and go hiking or skiing …These weren’t nerdy things to do.

I kind of wish that I had this kind of school experience (and tbh, I spent some time looking at boarding schools, thinking that I would find it there), but looking back, I think schools like this mainly exist in fiction. Dinnie is a fish out of water at the American School in Lugano, but we quickly learn that everyone else there, is, too. That’s a lesson that I loved as a middle schooler, and tbh, a good reminder at any age.

The title is explained about one-third of the way into the book — Keisuke, one of Dinnie’s classmates, has a fanciful relationship with the English language. For him, “bloomable sounded much more interesting than possible.” This book, at it’s core, is an optimistic message about looking for the best moments in every “bloomability” and about staying true to yourself.

It’s a book that I loved as when I was younger, but I may have needed to read it more as an adult. It was nice to have a reminder that there’s always a little bit of good in every opportunity, that’s it is cool to be nice and smart, that living life to the fullest — whether that is sitting by a stream fishing, eating raclette, or just spending time with your loved ones — is the best way to conduct your day-to-day. The book ends with a bit of ambiguity as to what Dinnie’s next step will be, and I have to wonder what she did and where she is now.

So…does it hold up? For me, absolutely. Nothing about it felt childish or juvenile, the writing was still amazing, and the story is timeline. This was a book I needed to read this month, even if I didn’t know it.

TL;DR: Great book for any age — warning: it will make you want to travel, spend time outdoors, and frolic about with your loved ones. All terrible impulses, to be sure.