Too Many Blooms

Petal Pushers #1

by Catherine R. Daly

Four sisters. One family-owned flower shop. Endless opportunities for fun...or disaster!
This fresh new series is full of girl--and flower--power.

Delphinium "Del" Bloom loves her grandparents' flower shop, where it's always peaceful and calm--unlike her cluttered house, where her three sisters--Rose, Aster, and Poppy--constantly cause drama. But then Gran and Gramps move away and leave the flower shop in the care of Del's scatterbrained parents! Their first order is for a big wedding and the bride wants everything--especially the flowers--to be PERFECT. Worse, the mean girl in Del's class happens to be a junior bridesmaid! Can Del help her family and save the day?

Genres: Childrens, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Family

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

Reviews

[Leah]

shut up this was like my favourite book as a kid omg my heart

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this first book in the Petal Pushers series, readers meet Delphinium Bloom, the oldest grandchild of flower shop owners. When her grandparents announce their plans to retire and leave the shop to Delphinium’s parents, she is horrified. What do her parents know about running a flower shop? Worse, as soon as Del’s grandparents leave, in walks a demanding customer wanting the perfect flowers for her upcoming wedding. Del becomes convinced that her parents can’t handle this detailed flower order, and she begins trying to control every aspect of the shop. In the meantime, her younger sisters, Rose, Aster, and Poppy, become increasingly annoyed with Del’s attitude, while a new boy in school seems to find her very interesting.

This is the third series book I have read recently that focuses on middle school girls running businesses. I don’t know if three is enough to consider it a trend, but I sort of hope it becomes one. There is something really appealing about a tween book that concerns itself with things outside of girl drama and boy-craziness. In this book, Del is plagued by the same issues most fictional middle school girls struggle with - mean popular girls and confusion over a crush - but they don’t consume her entire life. More important to Del are her sisters, her parents, her grandparents, her best friend, and arranging and selling flowers. I think real girls can relate much better to characters who have full, multifaceted lives.

I also think the writing in this book is a notch above some of the other series books I’ve read recently. Sometimes series books like this one have a flat, simplistic style with little description and a “just the facts” approach to storytelling. They often include a lot more telling than showing. This author does a nice job of writing a series book that has that lighthearted, “fluffy” feel that kids expect from paperback fiction but doesn’t water everything down to a basic formula. There is even a great unexpected twist at the end of the book that caught me totally by surprise, which was set things up really well for future titles in the series.

Too Many Blooms is probably best suited to grades 4 to 6, but readers as old as eighth grade might still be interested in it, especially if they’re looking for a short beach read, or something to read on the bus trip to Grandma’s house this summer. It compares well to tween books by Lauren Barnholdt, Tricia Rayburn, and Mimi McCoy, whose works include some romance and friendship drama, but who also keep it clean for the young tween crowd. Other books in the Petal Pushers series include Flower Feud, Best Buds, and Coming up Roses.

[✨Anna✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a copy of this book where you can color the cover your self. Pretty neat

[Nai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series as a kid

[MaiB · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so relatable, messy house, crazy family members and weird classmates, it checks all the boxes! I can't wait until I can get my hands on the next one in the series!

[Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the cover of this book! It matches the story perfectly. This is such a fun read and one I wish I had when I was younger. I enjoyed getting to know Del and her close knit family, who do a lot together and are always helping each other out. Del's family dynamics reminded me a bit of my family when I was growing up. She's close with her mom, dad, sisters and grandparents, who get together each week for family movie night. Del also loves to help out in her Grandparent's locally owned flower shop on Saturday's, a shop that's been in the family for years. It wasn't hard to fall in love with Del. She's relatable, funny, very responsible and a relatable character.

Things change for Del when her Grandparents head off to FL. Its hard for Del to accept that they're gone, and even harder for her to realize that it's okay for her mom to run the flower shop the way she wants to. Through the course of the story Del learns the importance of working together as a family. I loved being able to be apart of her world for a bit. It was fun to see what middle school was like for her. She has some great friends, her first crush, and she has to deal with a bully, aka Ashley. What I loved about Del is that she stands up for herself and towards the end of the story when something happens to Ashley, Del does the unthinkable and helps her. There's also a sweet, innocent crush between Del and Hamilton, who by the way is a fabulous character to meet.

I really adored this story and I'm really looking forward to following Del her story with the rest of the series. This is a series I look forward to reading with my daughter and I highly recommend picking it up.

[Natia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so good, I couldn't put it down! I really like Del. She may have a weird name( Who names their kid Delphinium?), but she is such a good character. The only problem is that she has to let loose. She is so neat and plays by the rules all the time. Her parents are let loose more than her! Her family owns a family business, a flower shop. They were the florists for this girl named Olivia. She was getting married to the mayor's son! It was going to be a big wedding, a really big one. But, there was a new flower shop that opens up and it quickly becomes Flowers on Fairfield, Del's family's flower shop. The new flower shop's name is Fleur. It was very modern. You could create virtual bouquets! But, thankfully , they didn't lose Olivia as a customer. One awkward thing about the wedding was that her nemesis, Ashley, was Olivia's junior bridesmaid. The funny thing is that the guy Del has a crush on, Hamilton's, mother was the owner of Fleur, the rival flower shop. Del's family is very unique. All of them have the names of flowers. Her sisters names are: Poppy, the youngest and Rose and Aster, the twins who are completely different. This was a really good book. I would give it not one, not two, but THREE thumbs up( Well, if I had three thumbs, but you know what I mean).

[Brown Barbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. I really love the story and the way the author writes creatively. It's totally fun. I have read it for 2 times. It will be very nice from the start to the end. Sometimes, it will be touching and there are lots of things to relate upon.

Del is an amazing character who loves flowers. It also depicts amazing how she manages with every thing. Amazing this book is! Now, gonna buy the second edition!!

[JennLynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about four sisters who help their parents take over the family flower shop. The eldest (and narrator) Del, learns about team work as they prepare for a "Bridezilla's" wedding of the year. A bit too many details about who's wearing what for my liking, but might appeal to reluctant female readers grades 4-6.

[Katieb (MundieMoms) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great series for 4th graders - middle grade readers. I wish I had this series when I was younger. I posted my full 5 star review on Mundie Kids here http://mundiekids.blogspot.com/2011/0...

[Brielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a super- cute premise, but not entirely believable as being the narration of a 12 year old. The series definitely grew on me, no pun intended. What's really endearing, is the family closeness and the small town Americana values espoused by the book.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Devoted to her Grandparent's flower shop she is devasted when they talk of closing it and moving to Florida! Our plucky heroine vows to save the shop in spite of efforts of Bridezilla and a school enemy. Lightweight breezy read. Beginning of a series.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very great. i wished i had more series of this book

[Dana Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent middle grade read! Check out my review on http://danasyabookpile.blogspot.com/

[Francesca]

This is the best series!!! I love these books !!!

[Jehcutie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book club book. :)

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love this book because it gets your imagination thinking about what is going on in the story.

[Janessa]

love it

[Olive · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. have to get the second one.

[Sahana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is neither very good nor very bad it is quite good

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book:

It was a pretty good book. The ending was a little sappy, but it had some good morals. I enjoyed it.

[Maria Sandoval · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really interesting because it shows how a family might face obstacles along the way but at the end they count on each other.

[Chiara DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was good. It was kinda long for me but this is another good book for young readers.