Every Bone a Prayer

May 1, 2020

DEBUT This glimmering, painfully honest first novel tells the story of ten-year-old Misty, who lives in an Appalachian holler with her feuding parents and an older sister to whom she is closely bonded. Misty's ability to talk with crayfish, birds, trees, and even inanimate objects proves her salvation. When strange sculptures suddenly sprout in their landlord Earl's barren garden and the boy next door becomes too familiar, Misty's story is touched by both magic and the sordid reality of sexual abuse. As she faces these troubles, Misty literally learns to separate from her skin--not as in a dissociative identity disorder, with different personalities, but as a physical separation that allows her to dwell in the world differently and more safely, at least for the time being. As she reaches out to the ghostly, troubling voice of the garden to understand what's happening in her world, she also comes to understand what happened earlier to a woman who once lived with Earl and learns how to protect--and finally to be--herself. VERDICT A beautifully rendered coming-of-age tale for a wide range of readers.--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2020
It began with a green glass statue. Overnight the figure mysteriously appeared in Earl's garden, after Misty and the closest thing she has to a best friend, William, buried a bottle there following a game of spin the bottle. Misty is a girl with a mysterious ability to understand and speak to the world around her, from the crawdads in the creek near the holler where their trailer home stands to the trees and, in time, the garden. The garden seems to harboring a secret, something involving Earl, which goes far deeper than the mystery statue. William becomes convinced that Misty is responsible for the statue in Earl's garden, and he begins to force her to create more. But when Misty feels she can no longer survive in her own skin, she finds a grotesque solution that allows her temporary escape. In this haunting debut novel, Blooms makes a mystical exploration of the hidden power that lies within and the strategies assault survivors can undertake to regain a feeling of ownership over body and mind.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

September 7, 2020
Blooms’s haunting and magical debut follows 10-year-old Misty and her family and neighbors through a summer of trauma in her Appalachian holler. Misty’s favorite companions are crawdads, who speak to her and her friend and neighbor William, a boy her age with whom she explores a barn owned by their landlord, Earl, who is rumored to have killed his wife. Misty is contacted by a strange voice she calls “the garden,” which tells her more about Earl’s crimes. Then, one night, William takes Misty to the barn and sexually assaults her. Misty’s sadness over William’s betrayal is unbearable to her, and she learns how to slip out of her skin. When she returns to her body, she’s accompanied by the “persistent ache of being born.” As Misty explores her relationship to her body and tries to get past her pain, she open herself to the voices around her and learns more about the fate of Earl’s wife. Blooms succeeds in building an enchanted world and teasing out the truth of what happened in Misty’s holler, as seen through an evocative child’s point of view. Blooms’s powerful tale makes for visceral, sometimes uncomfortable reading, and it’s well worth it. Agent: Alexandra Levick, Writers House.