The Overthrow #1: Bloom by Kenneth Oppel

My name is Anaya, and I'm allergic to everything. I can't believe my old best friend, Petra, gets all kinds of sympathy from everyone when she only has one allergy. I guess it's bad that she's allergic to water, but her good looks make up for it. My dad's a botanist for the Canadian government, and he's stumped by the terrifying black grass that grew four feet tall overnight. It's all over the world and there aren't any weed-killers that will stop it. Burning it makes things worse, and everyone is now becoming very ill from the plants. Well, everyone except for Petra, Seth, and me, but no one knows why. Now, the plants are changing. We were wrong in thinking the clear areas were safe, as underground plants are swallowing up animals and people! What can be done to stop these plants from taking over the world?

The book followed the stories of the three kids. The girls shared being afflicted by severe allergies, but the middle of the book described how all three of them had something else in common. The early parts of the plot weren't very exciting or suspenseful, as the black grass was just a serious annoyance. However, the tension amped up when it was clear the humans had no answer for them, and the survival of humanity was in jeopardy. A subplot addressed the common middle grade problem of friendship. Petra and Anaya used to be best friends until they weren't able to recover from misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Seth had been in many foster homes over the years, and he hoped that his current placement with an elderly couple would work out. These stories provided relief from the black grass problem to keep the plot from starting to drag or become boring. They also helped to make the characters more vulnerable and relatable to readers. The last third of the book became more intense, as the plants started killing people and destroying property. The kids became the center of experiments to find a way to stop them, but their additional differences will be very important in the future. Overall, this book became much more entertaining than I first expected, although killer plants won't appeal to everyone. I still recommend you give it a shot and see if it grabs you.