From Goodreads,"Twelve-year-old Stevie's world changes drastically when her parents are tragically killed and she is forced to live with her estranged grandfather at his run-down motel. After failed attempts to connect with her grandfather, Stevie befriends the colorful motel tenants and neighbors. Together, they decide to bring some color and life to the motel by planting a flower garden, against Stevie's grandfather's wishes. It will take Stevie's departure before her grandfather realizes just how needed she is by everyone."
Goodreads - Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel
I keep a pretty close eye on what books students are checking out. There are always classics that make their way through my classes. There are also new releases that make their way through. Throughout the school year, I have seen multiple of my students reading Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel. Many have said it was really good so I figured it was time to read it and give it my own review.
Stevie is just a regular girl who loves her parents, her farm, and planting flowers. But one day Stevie's parents are killed in an accident that leaves her on her way to live with her grandfather in Texas. She has never met her grandfather and doesn't know what to expect. Stevie soon meets a wide range of characters and decides that she is just the thing that is needed at the motel.
I absolutely loved the cast of quirky characters that lived at the motel. I felt like it was such a diverse crew that really rounded out the book. Horace and Ida are wheelchair-bound and have a longing desire to go to Florida for the honeymoon they never went on. Arlo and Roy are just a father and son trying to make it after Roy's mother left him years ago. Violet is a single woman who takes things from the hotel's lost and found and claims them as her own. Mercedes speaks very little English but is a hardworking maid. Winston is Stevie's grandfather and he is a very stingy and cold person who has to learn how to love again. I enjoyed how diverse the residents and employees of the motel were. I think that everyone can find a character that is similar to someone they know. I also liked that each of these characters had their own small development within the story.
On the flip side of this, Stevie was my least favorite. I don't know any twelve-year-old that would be so calm with everything that had happened. She had a minimal reaction to her parents being killed. She didn't have a real reaction about having to go live with her grandfather who she had never met before. She was handed a wad of cash from selling her parent's things and sent on her way. She blew through her money to make a garden and spent the rest of the time just moving through the days. I felt like she also didn't have real character development. She was the same at the end of the book as she was at the beginning.
I was also really frustrated with Stevie's parents. They kept a TON of secrets from her concerning her family. Throughout the book, I kept expecting something to come up that explained why they had kept everything so secretive. But that never happened. We never find out why they were the way they were. That was irritating and I feel that there was a missed opportunity for Stevie to better understand and learn about her parents.
I can see why my students have enjoyed this book. It has a good hook at the beginning, but it really flatlines as the story progresses. I give this 2 stars. This is definitely a book for middle school students.
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