On Jane Holden's 12th birthday, she wakes up excited to see if she looks more mature but notices only one change, the appearance of freckle number 4,281 on the bridge of her nose. Jane comforts herself with the knowledge that at least she will be getting her ears pierced later that day, something she has been waiting to do for seven years. When she goes downstairs to celebrate her birthday with banana chocolate chip pancakes, her older sister Elizabeth (Lizzie) refuses to eat. That night, instead of going out for a celebratory birthday dinner with friends, Jane finds herself at the hospital with her parents after an ambulance comes to take Lizzie, who has passed out in the family bathroom. Lizzie is diagnosed with anorexia and must stay in a mental ward at the hospital for two weeks before returning home to recuperate. While Lizzie is in the hospital, Jane continues her record of perfect attendance at school, which she has held since the first grade. She finally opens her birthday gifts and finds that her parents have given her a digital camera, which weeks ago would have made her jump with joy, but with the preoccupation over her sister's illness, it is difficult to be excited. When Lizzie finally comes home to recuperate, she is a completely different person. Instead of the popular, perfect, and joyful girl she was, Lizzie is distraught, moody, and unreachable to Jane, even though the two have been inseparable since Jane's birth. Three months after her return from the hospital, the unthinkable happensâ€" Lizzie dies of an overdose of laxatives and diuretics. Jane's family members, who never cry in public, are distraught at the loss of their beloved Lizzie. Although Jane's grandparents have flown in and friends and family offer their support, Jane feels completely alone and lost in her grief. As Lizzie is buried, Jane feels her family slipping away. Her father, typically uptight and stern, makes efforts to joke and to reach out to Jane, while her mother lies in bed day after day, only waking up to fight with her father and to make accusations about who should take the blame for Lizzie's death. After Jane's father surprises her with a puppy, Jane's mother announces that she needs to get away to recover from her grief. Jane spends the summer with her new puppy, an eclectic and loving babysitter, a boy from her school, and her father, who has traditionally not spent a great deal of time with her. She becomes passionate about photography and, during the course of an emotionally draining summer, Jane blooms into a young woman who is aware of herself, her abilities, and the love of those around her. Jane in Bloom is a moving story that focuses on the growth Jane experiences after the heartbreaking death of her sister. The story eloquently expresses the isolation grief causes, the difficulty of learning to live without a loved one, and the hope that comes from finding solace in others. Jane is a believable and memorable character who struggles with acceptance not only from her family but from herself. Readers will find the issues she deals with, including grief, loss, first love, and personal acceptance relevant and meaningful. The primary audience for this book is grades 6â€"8.
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