Seedfolks is a carefully crafted, elegantly written novel about a community garden that springs up on a trash-laden, rat-infested vacant lot. Each of the thirteen chapters is devoted to a particular character and his/her situation. We learn about the changes in the garden as seen through their eyes. As the book progresses, each person weaves themselves into the garden's life-- making improvements, getting to know others, sharing their time. The volunteers interaction has a carry-over effect outside the garden; they begin to know other's names and become real people to one another.
At the end they have a "Harvest Celebration". They are celebrating more than a bunch of plants--they have become part of each other's lives.
Fleischman, in sixty nine pages, created a tightly-written novel. Even though it's a quick read, the story stays with you long after you have put the book down. Fleischman creates amazingly realistic characters that speak to universal audiences and make his novel a delight to read.
Review by: The College of Education at The University of Texas Austin
http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/booksR4teens/book_reviews/book_reviews.php?book_id=963
Seedfolks, illustrated by Judy Petersen. New York: HarperTrophy, 1997.
This book focuses a lot on community, which is a very central point in classroom's today. This would be a great book to have a book talk on in the classroom and discuss how even though our classroom is made up of people from different backgrounds, we all still need to come together and be a community. Like the people in Seedfolks we are all very different, but we can come together for the common good.
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