Bloom

Bloom
Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins, 2020 320 pages
Grades 5-9Science Fiction
The Bloom Trilogy #1

Three points of view tell the tale of what happens when noxious plants take over the world. Anaya and Petra are former friends who both suffer from terrible allergies. In fact, Petra is allergic to water, an extremely rare and dangerous condition. Seth is a new boy to town. He has bounced around foster homes and finally feels as if he has found his place in this small Canadian town. One day a heavy rain hits, and Petra realizes that she is able to tolerate it. The rain is different in more ways than one: it brings with it tiny seeds that rapidly become giant black plants that wrap themselves around everything. People are being strangled by the plants in their sleep and are being poisoned by the toxic discharge that they emit. For some unknown reason Petra, Anaya and Seth are immune. As the world scrambles to figure out what is going on and how to stop it, more weird developments happen to the three heroes. Through it all, Anaya and Petra work out their friendship kinks and the three teens become a tight friend-group. It seems that it is up to them to save the world from these vicious plants, yet once they figure out how to do this, the game changes--leading readers to the next installment, yet to be released.

Kenneth Oppel is an amazing writer. His books are all so different, yet always awesome both in interest and quality. This trilogy seems to be his most commercial to date and is sure to find a huge readership. What a weird book to read during this time in my life. When I started to read the book, I took my daughter to see Little Shop of Horrors off-Broadway. (The production was excellent, and I would highly recommend it--if and when Broadway is up and running again). It was a crazy coincidence to read a book about a plant taking over the world while seeing the show. By the time I finished the book the world was in the middle of the Corona crisis and, again, I felt the parallels. Global emergency is something that young readers will now, unfortunately, relate to and they need reading materials while staying home from school. Will plants causing a public pandemic bring escapism or further fear, I am not sure, but it definitely places the book in the category of current relevance. Themes include environmentalism, friendship, being different, and stepping up during a crisis. Oppel adds many plot twists and surprises. Some mysteries behind the existence and motivations of the plants are revealed, while other questions are left unanswered to encourage readers to pick up the next installment. Recommend to fans of Margaret Peterson Haddix or to any middle reader who appreciates fast-moving conceivable sci-fi.