History Literature / Bloomability

* SpoiledBrat: Lila, one of Dinnie's classmates at the boarding school, constantly complains about everything and everyone -- sometimes crossing into outright bigotry, such as complaining about how many non-Americans are at the school -- and even snaps at Dinnie when Dinnie tries to empathize with her. As such, she quickly alienates just about everyone other than Dinnie herself (who insists on sticking by Lila despite [[WithFriendsLikeThese Lila's questionable treatment of her]]) and Guthrie. It's hinted that she may have some HiddenDepths that [[FreudianExcuse explain why she is the way she is]], but it's never revealed exactly what those are.

* UptownGirl: Dinnie's mother was this to her father. It's {{Deconstructed|Trope}} a bit, as it becomes clear that as much as he loves her, he's never really comfortable with her background or her family.

* SpoiledBrat: Lila, one of Dinnie's classmates at the boarding school, constantly complains about everything and everyone -- sometimes crossing into outright bigotry, such as complaining about how many non-Americans are at the school -- to the point where she alienates just about everyone other than Dinnie herself and Guthrie. It's hinted that she may have some HiddenDepths that [[FreudianExcuse explain why she is the way she is]], but it's never revealed exactly what those are.

* AmbiguousEnding: At the end of the story, before Dinnie flies home to stay with her parents for summer break, her aunt and uncle tell her that they and her parents have agreed to give her a choice for the upcoming school year: return to Switzerland and continue attending the boarding school, or stay with her parents and start high school in America. The book ends before she makes her decision, or even has any real inkling of what that decision is likely to be.

* AerithAndBob: Dinnie (Domenica) and her sister Stella both have fairly common Italian names, while her brother is named...Crick. Dinnie explains in the exposition that, as per an agreement between her parents, her brother was named by her father, while the girls were named by their mother, and so their names reflect their parents' respective backgrounds.

* OffToBoardingSchool: Of a sort; at the beginning of Chapter 2, Dinnie is sent to attend a boarding school in Switzerland run by her aunt and uncle, although she gets an exception to live with said aunt and uncle instead of in the student housing. The reasons aren't explicitly stated, but given that both of her siblings were already having major struggles in life (her brother was in trouble with the law and her sister had a baby at 16), it was likely a genuine attempt to give her a shot at a better life. She initially resents it, thinking her parents are just trying to get rid of her, but eventually starts to understand and appreciate the opportunity that she was presented with (the fact that she finds she really ''likes'' the school helps a lot), and at the end of the book she's genuinely torn about whether she wants to stay with her parents or go back to the boarding school for the following year.

* TeenPregnancy: Dinnie's sister Stella has a baby at 16.

* AmbiguousEnding: At the end of the story, Dinnie is given a choice to make about whether she wants to stay with her family in the US permanently after the summer break ends and go to high school there or go back to Switzerland for the next school year. The book ends before she makes her decision, or even has any real inkling of what that decision is likely to be.

** Dinnie's maternal grandparents never liked Dinnie's father. At one point when Dinnie and her classmates are discussing the concept of arranged marriage (in keeping with reading ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''), Dinnie thinks to herself that if her mother's parents had been allowed to arrange her mother's marriage, they would have chosen someone who was probably the polar opposite of her father.

* {{Malaproper}}: Keisuke, who is Japanese and is still figuring out English, is prone to these. Dinnie starts to adopt a few of them in the narration, such as referring to "downfelling" instead of "falling down".

* {{Malaproper}}: Keisuke, who is Japanese and is still figuring out English, is prone to these. For example, when Dinnie is learning to ski and having trouble keeping her feet under her, he refers to her "downfelling" rather than "falling down".

** Dinnie's maternal grandparents never liked Dinnie's father. During a class discussion of ''Literature/RomeoAndJuliet'' in which the kids start talking about arranged marriage, Dinnie thinks to herself that if her mother's parents had been able to choose her mother's partner, they would never have chosen anyone remotely like her father.

* Malaproper: Keisuke, who is Japanese and is still figuring out English, is prone to these; for example, when Dinnie is learning to ski, he refers to her struggles as "downfelling" rather than "falling down".

* AmbiguousEnding: At the end of the story, Dinnie is given a choice to make about whether she wants to stay with her family in the US permanently or go back to Switzerland for the next school year. The book ends before she makes her decision, or even has any real inkling of what that decision is likely to be.

* OffToBoardingSchool: At the beginning of Chapter 2, Dinnie is sent to a boarding school in Switzerland run by her aunt and uncle; the reasons aren't explicitly stated, but given that both of her older siblings' lives had already started to go off the rails, it was likely an attempt to give her a shot at a better life. She initially resents it, thinking her parents are just trying to get rid of her, but eventually starts to understand the opportunity that's being presented to her.

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: At one point, Mari and Belen admit that their families would be aghast at them having crushes on boys from other cultures and countries, especially boys who aren't white. Since they're only in middle school, the crushes don't materialize into anything more than {{Longing Look}}s and some flirting, but they still have to be careful how they talk about the boys in question when they're at home lest their parents freak out.

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: At one point, Mari and Belen admit that their families would be aghast at them having crushes on boys from other cultures and countries, especially boys who aren't white. Since they're only in middle school, the crushes don't really ''go'' anywhere, but they still have to be careful how they talk about the boys in question when they're at home lest their parents freak out.

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: At one point, Mari and Belen admit that their families would be aghast at them having crushes on boys from outside their own countries, let alone boys who aren't white. Since they're only in middle school, the crushes don't really ''go'' anywhere, but they still have to be careful how they talk about the boys in question when they're at home lest their parents freak out.

* SpoiledBrat: Lila, one of Dinnie's classmates at the boarding school, constantly complains about everything and everyone -- sometimes crossing into outright bigotry -- to the point where she alienates just about everyone other than Dinnie herself and Guthrie. It's hinted that she may have some HiddenDepths that [[FreudianExcuse explain why she is the way she is]], but it's never revealed exactly what those are.

* LastNameBasis: Guthrie, one of Dinnie's classmates at the school. His full name is Peter Guthrie but he pretty much never uses it.

* SpoiledBrat: Lila, one of Dinnie's classmates at the boarding school, constantly complains about everything to the point where she alienates just about everyone other than Dinnie herself and Guthrie.

* AmbiguousEnding: At the end of the story, Dinnie is given a choice between going back to the US permanently or returning to Switzerland for the next school year. The book ends as Dinnie is still contemplating her decision.

* LastNameBasis: Guthrie, one of Dinnie's classmates at the school. His full name is Peter Guthrie but he likes his last name better.

* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: After moving to an Italian-speaking town in Switzerland, Dinnie has to learn Italian in order to get around. She eventually gets the hang of it, but runs into this trope a few times along the way.

* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: After moving to Switzerland, Dinnie has to learn Italian as it's the local language of the area. She eventually gets the hang of it, but runs into this trope a few times along the way.

''Bloomability'' is a children's book by Sharon Creech, first published in 1998. It follows the story of Dominica "Dinnie" Doone, a young girl who goes from living with her semi-nomadic family in the United States to attending a boarding school in Lugano, Switzerland, and begins to redefine her life as a result.

* AerithAndBob: Dinnie (Dominica) and her sister Stella both have classical Italian names, while her brother is named...Crick. Dinnie explains in the exposition that, as per an agreement between her parents, her brother was named by her father, while the girls were named by their mother, and so their names reflect their parents' respective backgrounds.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In the first chapter, Dinnie's sister Stella gets married behind her parents' back at the age of 16. No state in the US allows a 16-year-old to marry without the consent of at least one parent, so unless she presented fake documents of either her age or her parents' consent (which would likely render the marriage invalid anyway), she wouldn't be legally allowed to marry.

* AmbiguousEnding: At the end of the story, Dinnie is given a choice between staying in the US with her family after summer break or going back to Switzerland for the next school year. The book ends as Dinnie is still contemplating her decision.