Seedfolks

Maybe the author had good intentions with this story of a multicultural community coming together to grow a garden. But the racial insensitivity it traffics in was painful - each chapter is written in a different characters voice, but only the Asian character is written with an obvious accent. The political and economic assumption is that all these people could build a better community if they just worked a little harder. One of the final chapters includes a line “ It had been such a wonderful change to see people making something for themselves instead of waiting for a welfare check.”
There’s so much to unpack in these 70 pages, and I don’t think this novella deserves that much work.

In this slim novel, Fleischman presents a series of vignettes revolving around a vacant lot/community urban garden in a run down neighborhood in Cleveland—---different people, ages, ethnic groups, motivation, points of view. The connection between the people they represent seems tenuous at first, but like the garden that, once nourished, takes root and blooms, the bond grows and we are really sucked into the story, finding the connections as we continue along. As I said, the book is very slim; less than seventy pages, but Fleischman is a true poet and manages to speak volumes in a few well chosen words. And like every community garden it is filled with hope and promise and possibilities. Great for stimulating class discussions of show more community and racism and human nature, it would also work well in a unit on community empowerment with, for example, Karusa’s The Streets are Free , Disalvo-Ryan’s Granpa’s Corner Store or McGovern’s Lady in the Box. –for younger YAs—Grade 4+. 02/07. show less

I love how Paul Fleischman structured his story, Seedfolks. Every chapter of the book is a specific person telling their own story and how they are apart of the garden. This concept sounds like it was hard to construct, however Fleischman does a great job keeping the linear story going on carrying it with each character. I love the diversity in the story, and it mentions in the book how the garden was set up like the neighborhood. I loved this paragraph in the book, and I believe this is the book in a nut shell. "Many grew plants from their native lands-huge Chinese melons, ginger, cilantro, a green Jamaicans call calaloo, and many more. Pantomime was often required to get over language barriers. Yet we were all subject to the same show more weather and pests, the same neighborhood, and the same parental emotions towards our plants." show less

Using the multiple voices that made Bull Run (1995) so absorbing, Fleischman takes readers to a modern inner-city neighborhood and a different sort of battle, as bit by bit the handful of lima beans an immigrant child plants in an empty lot blossoms into a community garden, tended by a notably diverse group of local residents. It's not an easy victory: Toughened by the experience of putting her children through public school, Leona spends several days relentlessly bulling her way into government offices to get the lot's trash hauled away; others address the lack of readily available water, as well as problems with vandals and midnight dumpers; and though decades of waging peace on a small scale have made Sam an expert diplomat, he's show more unable to prevent racial and ethnic borders from forming. Still, the garden becomes a place where wounds heal, friendships form, and seeds of change are sown. Readers won't gain any great appreciation for the art and science of gardening from this, but they may come away understanding that people can work side by side despite vastly different motives, attitudes, skills, and cultural backgrounds. It's a worthy idea, accompanied by Pedersen's chapter-heading black-and-white portraits, providing advance information about the participants' races and, here and there, ages. (Fiction. 9-11)

-Kirkus Review show less

I really enjoyed the book because I was able to read all 13 different perspective views. Each chapter is told by diverse characters from different ethnic groups. I like how this book portrayed and provided examples that people from diverse cultures can relate to. This story does well in explaining how it is okay to be different. I think I will share this in my classroom for multicultural education because more students can build their knowledge about this topic. This book can help students to understand regarding the racism or discrimination in today's society. Also, children who came from a different culture may be able to greatly relate to this story. This is important, so that they can find their lives reflected in the book.

This is one of my favorites from grade school, but it transfers to adults also. It shows how little acts of caring and kindness by a few people can transform a neighborhood, and that you don't have to be the stereotypical "White Knight" to save your city.. Obviously, since the heroine is only about 8 years old. And it's about gardens and fresh food, which i love and is totally AWESOME!. The Broken Window Theory running backwards i guess you could say...

And with this review it commenced my annual reread of 'Seedfolks' It's such a great book to pick up every spring, reminds me why I get out of my own garden and try to communicate nature so to speak. I'm very inspired by the draw of the neighborhood individuals into one communal space that's why I like participating in my local community garden as well you get to see people from around my own community.

This year I was drawn to the stories from Ana, Gonzalo, and Leona.