Dahlia in Bloom

By Susan Koehler

Book Overview

Can a person just decide to give up feeling scared?

It's 1933, and Dahlia Harrell lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains in a hand-me-down cabin built by her Grandpap's Uncle Zeke. At eight-and-three-quarters, Dahlia knows all about being scared. She's scared of snakes, high-up places, dark nights, and a mean ol' sister named Celia. What she doesn't understand is the new president's nonsense: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Dahlia decides that enough money can buy away any reason she has for feeling afraid, and she sets her hope on the rumor of a treasure buried beneath Zeke's cabin. However, when her family is uprooted to become tenant farmers in a distant community, Dahlia's quest for fearlessness ultimately sets her on a path of recklessness. What she fails to realize is that the secret to living a fearless life has been hers all along. And that treasure? Well, it just might hold the answer after all.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0985943882
• ISBN13: 9780985943882
• Release Date: July 2019
• Publisher: Turtle Cove Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A story for the ages

You don't have to be a young reader to enjoy this tender book written by a Tallahassee, FL, middle school language arts teacher. Writer Susan Kohler zoomed this month with a local book club to explain how the book came to be. It was as sweet a story as the book itself. Set in 1933 Appalachia, a tenant farmer and his family make the best of a hard life. Dahlia, eight and three-quarters years old, has an active imagination and a sense of fear that often causes her to move forward in her young life. Author Kohler gently propels young Dahlia along through various events in such a warm and friendly way that you hope there will be additional books about Dahlia and her family. (Even if you do not read this book, google Ms. Kohler's wonderful website for writing tips for students of all ages. She must be an extraordinary teacher for all of the information she has made available.)