Bloomability

Twelve-year-old Domenica Santolina Doone, known as Dinnie, has spent her childhood following her father, Jack, a self-described "Jack-of-all-trades," from town to town across America. By 12, the family has lived in a dozen states, ending in New Mexico. With each move, they shed belongings; Dinnie's possessions fit in a single box. Her older brother Crick falls into serious trouble at every stop, while her older sister Stella grows quiet and secretly marries a Marine at 16. In New Mexico, Stella wakes Dinnie because she is having a baby. Their father is on the road and Crick is in jail. This ends what Dinnie calls her "first life."

Dinnie's "second life" begins when her mother's sister, Aunt Sandy, and Sandy's husband, Uncle Max, drive Dinnie to the Albuquerque airport after a night of talking with her mother. Uncle Max is the new headmaster of an American international school in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland known as the Ticino. Dinnie will live with them and attend the school. She describes herself as being in "bubble mode," enclosed in an invisible shell that filters the outside world. Her father calls, crying, and wishes her luck with her "opportunity."

They take a train through the Alps to Lugano, where the school occupies an old red-roofed villa. Dinnie puts a sign in her window reading "KIDNAPPED!" and tries to translate it into Italian, producing comical mistranslations. She receives postcards from her father's sisters in Bybanks, Kentucky, but nothing from her parents. Before school opens, she meets Guthrie (Peter Lombardy Guthrie the Third), a 13-year-old American returning for his second year, who shouts "Sono libero!" (I am free!) at every turn. He tells Dinnie a story about two prisoners looking out the same cell window: One sees only dirt, the other only sky. She puzzles over the story for months. She also befriends Lila, an American girl whose father works in Saudi Arabia.

Once classes begin, Lila transforms into a relentless complainer, protesting her roommate Belen's English, the food, and students of every nationality. Dinnie is caught in the middle, sympathizing with Uncle Max at home and nodding along with Lila in person. Yet this school differs from all Dinnie's previous ones: Everyone comes from a different place, and being a nomad is normal. Small classes, attentive teachers, and a culture that values effort help Dinnie feel less like a perpetual outsider.

On a school trip to Val Verzasca, Dinnie experiences "double vision," each Swiss scene overlaid with a memory from an American home. She finally receives a letter from her mother containing a small painting and carries it for weeks. She grows close to Keisuke, a Japanese student who endearingly mangles English, and to his girlfriend Belen, whose parents have forbidden the relationship because Keisuke is not Spanish. Their English teacher, Mr. Bonner, asks students to write about their struggles. Dinnie thinks she has none but fills pages about moving, homesickness, and identity, realizing that being full of struggles may make her interesting after all.

As the December break approaches, Lila announces she is not coming back. Dinnie cannot go home for Christmas; it is too expensive, and her parents' phone is disconnected. Uncle Max and Aunt Sandy give her skis and boots; accepting their generosity becomes its own worthy struggle. In January, the school relocates to St. Moritz for a two-week ski term. Dinnie falls constantly as a beginner while Guthrie shouts about freedom on the slopes. To everyone's surprise, Lila returns, transformed into a smiling optimist. By the end, Dinnie skis down the beginner slope without falling.

Back in Lugano, Global Awareness Month forces students to confront war, famine, and environmental destruction. An Iraqi student describes being bombed; a Rwandan student recounts witnessing his mother's death. Guthrie is devastated. One night, Dinnie wakes Uncle Max demanding to know who pays for her schooling and why he is not helping refugees. Uncle Max and Aunt Sandy explain that her tuition is a benefit of his position and that being lucky is allowed. Meanwhile, Dinnie learns Crick chose the Air Force over jail. A postcard from her mother reveals that Dinnie's grandparents were born in Campobasso, Italy, sparking her determination to visit someday. Grandma Fiorelli's belated Christmas gift, a red scarf, becomes Dinnie's talisman.

Lila oscillates between cheer and complaint until a letter arrives: Her mother is leaving Saudi Arabia, which Lila interprets as a sign of divorce. She must leave the school immediately, though now she desperately wants to stay. Guthrie organizes a farewell ski trip to the Dolomites. Mr. Bonner distributes bright-yellow transceivers, emergency signaling devices, to everyone before the run. Too frightened to leave the chair lift at the top, Dinnie rides it back down. From a hut at the base, she watches Lila lead the group off the marked runs into untouched snow. A deep rumble sounds, and a massive avalanche breaks free. Guthrie swoops below Lila to redirect her, but she trips and falls. He stops to wait, and the surging snow engulfs them both.

Dinnie stands frozen, mentally marking the burial spot. Rescuers discover that one of the buried skiers left a transceiver in the van, meaning that person has no signal. They locate the other signal and pull Lila out alive, airlifting her to a Milan hospital. Dinnie directs rescuers to where she believes Guthrie lies. The wait is agonizing, but they find him alive. Dinnie waves her red scarf as the group shouts "Vivo!" In a dream that night, Dinnie skis freely, shouting "Sono libero!" and realizes her protective bubble is gone.

At the hospital, Lila is conscious and complaining, which reassures everyone. Guthrie is in worse condition, with broken bones and gashes requiring stitches. When Dinnie visits, he says "You smell like real air!" and she finally understands the prisoner story: Guthrie sees sky, Lila sees dirt, and Dinnie sees the in-between things. Lila's mother arrives, fighting loudly about returning to the States. Lila declares she loves everyone and departs in a taxi.

Spring transforms Lugano. Italian has invaded Dinnie's brain; she dreams and thinks in it. On the last Saturday in April, Guthrie takes Dinnie up Mt. San Salvatore on the funicolare, a small railcar that climbs the mountainside. At the summit, the entire world spreads before them. Dinnie feels simultaneously like a tiny speck and an enormous part of everything. Guthrie tells her she is "a very interesting person," and she kisses his cheek.

The final week brings exams, the graduation banquet, and farewells. Guthrie recites Robert Frost's poem about two roads diverging and tells the class their choice to attend this school has made all the difference. He hugs Dinnie, kisses her, and leaps into a taxi promising a reunion. Uncle Max and Aunt Sandy have offered Dinnie a choice: stay with her parents or return to Switzerland in the fall. Her box now holds her fishing rod, red scarf, and photos. She leaves her skis in the closet; taking them would mean she is never coming back. On the plane, she thinks of Bybanks, Kentucky, where she was born and where her family is heading. She tells herself it will be an opportunity. In a final dream, she flies alongside Guthrie, surrounded by white eagles singing "Viva! Viva! Viva!"