Isabel in Bloom -- Mae Respicio, Hardcover

A girl discovers a connection between her home in the Philippines and her new home in the U.S. through a special garden in this middle grade novel that celebrates nourishment and growth.

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.

Author: Mae Respicio
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Published: 04/09/2024
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780593302712
Audience: Ages 9-12

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/22/2024
Booklist 02/15/2024 pg. 62
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2024
School Library Journal 04/01/2024 pg. 130

About the Author
Mae Respicio writes novels full of hope and heart. Her debut, The House That Lou Built, received the Asian/Pacific American Library Association Honor Award in Children's Literature and was an NPR Best Book of the Year. She's also the author of the acclaimed Any Day With You and How to Win a Slime War.