Bloom

Bloom (2020) is the first book in the Overthrow trilogy written by Kenneth Oppel, who has authored numerous bestselling books for young adult and middle grade audiences. This science fiction thriller features deadly plants that threaten to take over Earth as part of an alien invasion, and three teenagers who are mysteriously immune to the plants’ effects. Bloom won the 2021 Red Maple Award, was a 2022 Vermont Golden Dome Book Award Nominee, and won the 2022 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award for the Sundogs category. As the story explores ideas of alienation and belonging, friendship and loyalty, Bloom’s protagonists discover what sacrifice and heroism mean in a time of crisis. Oppel is a well-known Canadian author within the young adult and middle grade genres, and his other series include the Silverwing series and the Airborn series. He has written one novel in the adult fiction category, The Devil’s Cure (2000).

This guide uses the e-book edition of the text published in 2020 by Knopf Books for Young Readers. Pagination may differ from print editions.

Content Warning: The novel depicts violence between humans and extraterrestrial plants, feelings of alienation, teenagers in foster care, physical alterations, and environmental tragedies resulting in deaths.