Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Seedfolks


I've been meaning to read Seedfolks ever since I saw the author, Paul Fleischman, speak at a conference last year. I finally got around to reading it this week. Seefolks is about several neighbors living in a low socio-economic apartment building in Cleveland, OH. This building is located next to a vacant lot strewed with trash and discarded junk. This lot changes one summer after a young girl decides to clear a small section and plant a few lima beans. This inspires one of her neighbors to clear a small plot for herself and plant her own seeds. Neighbor after neighbor decide to do the same thing until the lot has been completly transformed from a trash-filled lot to a garden paradise. The lot isn't the only thing that is changed by these new gardeners. They, themselves, are transformed from strangers to close friends. The great thing about this book is that it is less than 100 pages and can be read in a single sitting. And, in true Fleischman style, each chapter is written using a different narrator until all the neighbors have told their own story.