ALA Best Book for Young Adults ∙ School Library Journal Best Book ∙
Publishers Weekly Best Book ∙ IRA/CBC Children's Choice ∙ NCTE
Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts
A Vietnamese girl plants six lima beans in a Cleveland vacant lot.
Looking down on the immigrant-filled neighborhood, a Romanian woman
watches suspiciously. A school janitor gets involved, then a Guatemalan
family. Then muscle-bound Curtis, trying to win back Lateesha. Pregnant
Maricela. Amir from India. A sense of community sprouts and spreads.
Newbery-winning author Paul Fleischman uses thirteen speakers to bring
to life a community garden's founding and first year. The book's short
length, diverse cast, and suitability for adults as well as children
have led it to be used in countless one-book reads in schools and in
cities across the country.
Seedfolks has been drawn upon to teach tolerance, read in ESL classes,
promoted by urban gardeners, and performed in schools and on stages from
South Africa to Broadway.
The book's many tributaries--from the author's immigrant grandfather to
his adoption of two brothers from Mexico--are detailed in his
forthcoming memoir*, No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer's Road to Page
One.*
"The size of this slim volume belies the profound message of hope it
contains." --Christian Science Monitor
And don't miss Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, the Newbery
Medal-winning poetry collection!
