Bloom

“He hadn’t been convinced there was much point in making an effort, or getting used to anything. He tended to get moved around.”

Seth’s experiences in foster care shaped the initial state of his character arc. He’s been abandoned by so many foster families that he fears getting close to people. Not making an effort to form meaningful relationships protects him from disappointment. The relationships he forms with Anaya, Petra, and Dr. Weber help him overcome this detachment and demonstrate the importance of Friendship and Loyalty as a Source of Strength.

“He knew what it was like to feel different, to want to hide away some part of yourself.”

Seth recognizes in Anaya and Petra the same sense of alienation he feels himself. The author’s portrayal of their vulnerabilities helps normalize such feelings. This quote separates the feeling from Seth’s specific situation, getting at the heart of a universal conflict between Alienation From One Group as Belonging to Another.

“One of the things she liked best about hanging out with Dad was that he let her help. Even after she became allergic to everything, he didn’t treat her any differently.”

Anaya’s relationship with her dad is presented as an ideal parent/child relationship. Mr. Riggs treats Anaya with love and dignity. Her allergies make her feel different from her peers, something that creates a major challenge for a teenager’s identity and self-esteem. The fact that her father doesn’t treat her any differently than he did before her allergies emerged is incredibly important to Anaya, as this line shows.

“‘The Chinese have this whole government department in charge of the weather,’ Fleetwood was saying. ‘They can make it rain.’”

At the community meeting held in response to the invasive black grass, citizens’ varying responses paint a picture of how societies react to global crises. While the book’s exploration of this topic culminates in a thematic message about heroism, an accurate portrayal must also show the chaos, fear, and hardships that emerge in times of upheaval. Conspiracy theories are an important part of that, as they demonstrate the human need for security through quick understanding of a chaotic world.

“Petra knew from her dad that the little island hospital was already overloaded. For most people, it was like having a really bad cold, or the flu. But some people had much more severe reactions—lung infections, or life-threatening asthma attacks—and needed to be transferred to Victoria or Vancouver—where the hospitals were also packed.”

Despite Bloom being drafted at least three years prior, this description of the cryptogenic invasion’s aftermath is remarkably similar to real-world scenarios at the height of Covid-19 pandemic, which began around the time of Bloom’s publication in 2020. Sociohistorical context, then, takes on an additional layer of relevance in understanding the book. It is part of an ongoing social discourse as well as an understanding of the emotional aspects of the reading experience.

“Being pretty was like armor—it was the only thing between herself and her fears. Fear of people thinking she was stuck up and icy. Fear of someone stabbing her in the back again. Fear of what the future held for her.”

To outsiders, Petra might be deemed shallow because of how much she values her looks. Giving the reader this insight into her reasons, however, characterizes her with more depth. She’s shown as vulnerable, plagued by relatable fears and insecurity. This makes her more sympathetic as a character. More importantly, it establishes the flaw she must overcome through her character arc—chronic and paralyzing fear.

“‘Thank God you’re all right,’ she said. ‘I am so proud of you. You helped so many people.’”

Anaya’s mom says this to her after seeing news footage of Anaya’s heroics on the school field, where she saved several people from giant pit plants. Like her dad, Anaya’s mom is a model for supportive parenting. Her words show she loves her daughter and cares about her safety but also that she trusts in Anaya’s abilities and admires her altruistic character.

“Petra hadn’t betrayed her. Anaya had been the disloyal one, telling everyone about her tail. She did it because Petra was getting so pretty, and Anaya wanted to keep her a weirdo like her, so they could stick together.”

Anaya’s role in her feud with Petra shows her to be flawed, an important aspect of authentic and compelling character development. This acknowledgment of her betrayal, after so many chapters in which her perspective paints Petra as the betrayer, speaks to a common defense mechanism people use to protect their sense of self. Anaya projects her unacceptable action—betrayal of the friendship—onto Petra, convincing herself she was the victim to assuage her guilt.

“Seth had never had a best friend, but he was pretty sure if he did he wouldn’t risk losing the friendship. He didn’t understand people very well.”

This line characterizes Seth as, in the text’s view, a type of loner, not by choice but by circumstances. The hardships he’s endured as a foster child evoke both sympathy for what he’s missed and admiration for how he’s coped. The fact that Seth has never had a best friend, and that he clearly wants and values such relationships, emphasizes the importance of Friendship and Loyalty as a Source of Strength. This line is also an example of Oppel’s minimalist writing style. Both the significance and complexity of friendship are summed up in these two short sentences.

“She didn’t seem to realize that no one had privacy anymore. No one even wanted it. You could probably find everyone’s hospital records on social media.”

Bloom isn’t heavy on social commentary, nor does the narrator take on a judgmental or condemning tone. However, observations within the narrative do call attention to changing social norms. This example illustrates the different expectations held by two different generations. Petra’s mom still expects the privacy laws and norms she grew up with to govern society and is concerned by their erosion. Petra, on the other hand, grew up in an era of social media and nearly unregulated access to information, giving her a very different expectation of privacy. This demonstrates the subjective nature of consciousness and perceived reality.

“Believe me, Sergeant Sumner, the military is taking care of that. But we also need to protect ourselves in the meantime. Especially since we’re dealing with organisms that aren’t from this planet.”

The first revelation that these plants are extraterrestrial marks a turning point in the plot. The main conflict shifts from humans versus nature to humans versus aliens. This portrays their opposition as an intentional, strategic effort to annihilate the human species. Raising the stakes creates tension and suspense, making the characters’ choices more meaningful and the story more compelling.

“The idea there were others like him—just the idea he wasn’t alone—was so exciting he could barely wait for Dr. Weber’s answers. He had so many questions.”

Seth’s reaction to learning Dr. Weber had a son born with feathers, just like him, reveals the significance of Alienation From One Group as Belonging to Another as a thematic concept in the story. After so many years in foster care and so many years hiding the scars that set him apart from his peers, Seth is tired of feeling alone. His greatest desires aren’t for things like luxury or power but simply for belonging.

“‘Everything’s going to be okay,’ Mom said, which was what moms were supposed to say—but right now it didn’t make her feel one bit better.”

Anaya’s mom must face a universally relatable fear attached to parenthood—the inability to protect one’s children from the world. In a time of global crisis and uncertainty, Anaya’s mom can’t control the situation, so she’s resigned to comforting words. Their failure to make Anaya feel better illustrates a universal aspect of moving from youth toward adulthood—the loss of innocence.

“So many years of wondering, and feeling he was different and strange—and now finally having the answer why. He was stunned but also relieved. There was a reason.”

Seth, in the text’s view, has had more reason to feel alienated than even Anaya, with her severe allergies, and Petra, with her water allergy and her history of being born with a tail. Growing up with foster families, moving from family to family, he’s never had a chance to settle in. The scars from being born with feathers can’t be easily hidden. He has to wear long-sleeve shirts all the time, even in gym class. Seth accepted these feelings and coped with them through detachment. Understanding them, though, gives him what he needs to finally develop a permanent sense of who he is.

“It seemed so ridiculous now, all the time she’d spent worrying about how she looked on the outside. How much pleasure she was taking in her new, prettier face. Who knew if it would even last? Even with normal people, your outside changed all the time. Maybe the you traveling inside your body was the only thing you had any control over.”

Anaya’s ambivalence about her looks, and about the value of physical appearance in the grand scheme of things, shapes her identity. It characterizes her as both a normal teenager and a deep thinker, someone who desires to cultivate inner beauty by developing her mind and soul. The insight she expresses here serves as encouragement to young readers feeling alienated by society’s rigid standards of physical attractiveness.

“With a chill of realization she said, ‘Are we an experiment? To see if they could live here on Earth.’”

This realization forces Anaya, Petra, and Seth to question their understanding of the cryptogenic invasion. They don’t know for sure if the aliens sent the plants as a weapon meant to annihilate humans or merely as a crop to feed them and make Earth’s atmosphere habitable for them. This uncertainty complicates the conflict between humans and cryptogens. Anaya’s epiphany also forces her and her friends to reconsider everything they thought they knew about who and what they are.

“Never in his life had Seth felt so grateful to anyone. For the first time, it was okay to be himself. He wasn’t supposed to be something else.”

This feeling is evoked by Dr. Weber telling Seth she won’t have his wings removed if he doesn’t want that. Granting him this level of autonomy and dignity shows she respects and cares for him. Given Seth’s detachment and feelings of alienation, being accepted—just as he is—comes as a touching surprise.

“‘The vines must’ve grown right over it,’ Seth said. ‘Like they’re trying to hide it.’ Jolie looked at him sharply. ‘You’re talking like they’re intelligent.’ ‘They grabbed a cell phone!’ Petra told her. ‘It’s like they don’t want us getting that soil,’ Seth added.”

Attributing intelligence to the plants’ behavior makes them a formidable enemy, escalating the conflict and increasing the opposition between the characters and their goal. By refusing to acknowledge the possibility of the plants behaving intelligently, Jolie underestimates her adversary and pays with her life. Her assumption that she knows better is a form of arrogance. The teens, on the other hand, are more open to new possibilities, a trait Oppel may be suggesting more adults should preserve.

“It was not okay. How could it ever be okay? She was not what she used to be—and never had been. From the moment of her birth, she’d been something different, and how could her father possibly accept her?”

The traumatic effects of Anaya’s discovery, that she was conceived by an alien, didn’t have time to fully sink in right when the discovery was made. Anaya’s focus was on her dad and his safety. Once she’s with her dad and has to tell him he’s not her biological father, she can no longer repress the full weight of the information or its implications. Her trauma demonstrates how central the abstract concept of identity is to the way humans understand themselves and the world around them.

“She leaned into Mom. Seeing her get out of that floatplane, she’d felt such a complicated tangle of emotions. First, there was love and sheer relief, but it didn’t come with the feeling of safety she’d yearned for. She’d been through so much alone, and knew too much, to feel like Mom could solve all her problems, and keep her safe.”

This description of how Anaya experiences the loss of innocence provides an example of Oppel’s writing style. Though his approach to a topic or idea is often minimalistic, it is not ambiguous. The reader doesn’t have to interpret subtext to understand Anaya’s feelings. They’re revealed directly, using uncomplicated language that is appropriate and accessible for middle grade audiences.

“These things were all part of her now, at least for the time being. And if she was honest with herself, she kind of liked it. She liked her unblemished face. Even more, she liked her new leg muscles, her speed: the sheer power of herself. She wasn’t sure what awaited her, but right now, at this moment, she felt like she could handle it, especially if she didn’t have to go through it alone.”

Anaya’s feelings about her physical transformations have evolved. What they mean for her identity and sense of self still poses challenges, but she’s learned to embrace the benefits her new body has to offer. Her attitude supports a message that there isn’t only one standard of physical beauty. Different bodies have different strengths, all of which should be celebrated.

“Despite all the emergency and military forces fighting the plants, tens of thousands of people were killed every day. Strangled, gassed, melted. Nowhere was safe. This new herbicide was the world’s best chance right now.”

The stakes in the battle against the cryptogenic plants are high. This prescient description of mass global casualties and the desperate hope for a scientifically developed solution seem eerily similar to real-world experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic, which started right around the time of Bloom’s publication. The reason for the similarity is the author’s understanding of social behavior and community responses to any major upheaval. Nevertheless, the relatability of such high stakes and fear make descriptions like this one powerfully evocative in their sociohistorical context.

“They weren’t alone. Dr. Weber had already told them about her own son, and guessed there must be others out in the world, but it was different now, knowing. They weren’t solitary freaks.”

The recurrent emphasis on not being alone but connected to other teenagers who are like them demonstrates the importance of Alienation From One Group as Belonging to Another as a central theme. Anaya, Petra, and Seth’s first encounter with evidence that these other teens exist also foreshadows their significance in Books 2 and 3 of the series. They will eventually find a whole community of people like them.