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** spoiler alert ** I love this book. I first read it in the summer before seventh grade, a time when I was extremely uncomfortable in my skin and was about to be the New Girl for the fifth time. From the second I began reading this, I had an amazing boost of confidence. Dinnie Doone, the main character of Bloomability, is a quiet, shy girl from an extremely unstable family. She has been moved around from state to state for her entire life because her father can't hold down a job; her sixteen-year-old sister is pregnant after a spur-of-the-moment marriage to a Marine; her brother is in jail for stealing a car at fifteen. Dinnie seems to have everything going against her, until her mother makes a secret plan for her wealthy sister and her husband to take Dinnie to live with them in Switzerland. There, Dinnie attends an American boarding school, where her uncle is the headmaster and her aunt teaches English. Dinnie, struggling with homesickness, insecurity, and adjusting to international life, begins to learn more about herself and how taking advantage of opportunities can change your life.

Once again, I absolutely love this book. It definitely has the lowest reading level out of all of the books on my shelf, but it is also one of the most meaningful to me. It represents change and growth, adjustment and coping. You can definitely learn many a lesson in this short little novel. Every couple of years I reread it, and I always get something new from it. I don't care if you are in the second grade or are about to graduate; everyone should read this book. It has inspired me to write more, to travel, and to try to grow as a person in general. It teaches you to never look a gift horse in the mouth, to approach every new situation with optimism and hope. I could go on for days about it. Read it. That's all I'm going to say.