The story of Shyness and Bloom

Shyness, a dreamer who floats in the clouds, lives up high in a wee apartment and spends her days napping and daydreaming about a boy named Adie and her precious kitten Blurry. Bloom, on the other hand, is a painter who lives six stories underground, where the weight of the world sits on her shoulders and is becoming just a little too uncomfortable to bear.

Shyness and Bloom are unaware of each other’s existence until one spring day, Bloom decides to go to the park, and it just so happens that Shyness is out and about that very same day, and as fate would have it, they meet under a twisted oak tree, and there their friendship begins.

That fateful moment begins a binary spiraling into the unknown as Shyness and Bloom gradually get to know each other as well as themselves as they journey through their own intense introspections, life experiences, and personal tragedies.

Bloom, who is dealing with the loss of her mother, and Shyness, who is faced with the death of Blurry share their grief with each other, and through this process the girls find solace. In the end, they create a harmonious balance in their contrasting outlooks and perceptions of the world and come together to form one being, her feet securely standing on and above the solid ground.

“In this illustrated novelette, Boult masterfully explores themes of healing, perception and identity. While instantly pulled in by the adolescent charm of the book's drawings and prose, the reader quickly realizes that there are strong and steady currents of wisdom and understanding that flow through its pages. Boult has a rare ability to transcend boundaries of age, making this story equally appealing to the younger and the wiser. She artfully shows us the solar system within the seed. Shyness and Bloom is a gift to be treasured.” -Jessica White


“I thought the biggest strength of this book was its success in being both important and fun at the same time. Big subjects are tackled - love, life, loneliness, growing up - and fundamental questions about our existence are asked, but before these ideas can turn pretentious, they are nicely countered by something cute and playful, such as "yuck" or "milk, please." Its ability to walk the fine line between significance and playfulness is what makes Shyness and Bloom such a fascinating and enjoyable read.” –Ryan McCormick


“The combination of the whimsy and the fanciful pictures was like I hadbeen staring at something for a long time and started to see patterns and shapes in whatever it was I was staring at (like a carpet or a wall), kind of like one does when lost in thought. The chaos of something mundane turns into patterns and building blocks for a day dream.” Kristina Kerr


“Whimsy is a word not often used these days, nor should it be. Because for something to be whimsical in this day and age, there has to be a transcendence from outside the norm. And with the norm expanding in our ever-shrinking global village, finding whimsy is increasingly difficult. Luckily for Rachel Boult, not only has she found whimsy, she has bottled it and currently has a factory down the road. Oh sure, she has other tricks in her bag; irony, melancholy, and the ability to play with neo-philosophical musings, but it is with whimsy that she tucks the reader so tightly in.An amusing read from start to finish, Shyness and Bloom is the kind of read where as your eyes glaze over the final words, your lips curl in a satisfied grin, as you feel as though you've just been let in on the best secret in the room.” –Erik Anderson

Shyness and Bloom is 246 pages, soft cover graphic novel
$25.00

please go to the books page to order.