Margins
Isabel in Bloom book cover
Isabel in Bloom
2024
First Published
4.25
Average Rating
368
Number of Pages

A Filipina-American girl discovers a connection between her two homes through a culinary garden in this middle grade novel that celebrates nourishment and growth—both in our lives and in nature. Twelve-year-old Isabel is the new kid in her San Francisco middle school. It’s the first time in many years that she’ll be living with her mother again. Mama's job in the US allowed Isabel and her grandparents to live more comfortably in the Philippines, but now Isabel doesn't really know her own mother anymore. Making new friends in a new city, a new country, is hard, but joining the gardening and cooking club at school means Isabel will begin to find her way, and maybe she too, will begin to bloom. In this beautifully rendered novel-in-verse, Mae Respicio explores how growth can take many forms, offering both the challenges and joy of new beginnings.

Avg Rating
4.25
Number of Ratings
277
5 STARS
43%
4 STARS
41%
3 STARS
16%
2 STARS
0%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Author

Mae Respicio
Mae Respicio
Author · 5 books
Mae Respicio writes heart-filled middle grade novels including The House That Lou Built, which won an Asian Pacific American Libraries Association Honor Award in Children's Literature, was an NPR Best Book, and was named to many "best of" and state reading lists, Any Day With You (out now), and How to Win A Slime War (out fall 2021). Find her at www.maerespicio.com.
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