Blossoming
is fiction in the Young Adult genre and is 162,000 words in length. Adults readers – over 15 million of us – are ready for a realistic novel that addresses some of the though problems and decisions that we as individuals make everyday. Although this book is a work of fiction, valuable lessons can be learned from it because the story in the novel is inspired from true events. Among other things, Blossoming describes struggles and differences in culture in an educative and unique way. The story unfolds through the eyes of Anastasia, a young girl, from the fictitious African country of Biafra, who is pursuing her dreams in
Blossoming is a story about love. But unlike most stories with love as the central theme, romantic love is not the main focus of this story. This story is truly about love in its purest form; a mother’s love: a powerful force that makes a mother willing to give up everything, even her own life, for her child. Blossoming describes the inner workings of an average young girl’s mind, her insecurities, dreams, desolation, depression, and how she manages to rise above all these while making exceptional choices and adjusting to a strange, new, and hostile environment. Unlike most novels, it addresses the issue of abortion, adoption, and teenage motherhood in a very personal way while describing how traumatic and difficult such decisions and issues can be especially for people like Anastasia who are so young and alone.
I decided to write Blossoming because it provided a medium to share my experiences in an entertaining, imaginative, and dramatic way. Blossoming is written in a simple yet rich style that best suits the story because young girls, like the story teller here, think in simple, plain, beautiful, and emotional language, not in convoluted sentences. The story flows naturally because as a young girl who has experienced immigration alone, I understand how Anastasia feels and this makes the story feel less like fiction.