Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman was the last book I chose to bring home out of the giant shipment of books I ordered for my school this year. It was sandwiched into a set of books I bought from Scholastic that centered around diverse characters and stories. I probably wouldn't have paid any special attention to it at all if it weren't for a remark that another teacher made to me. When we pulled this slim little volume out of the box it came in, she remarked, "Oh, we used to teach this book at my last school! This is a great book." Of course, her words made me stick one of these on my desk to bring home and read later. I ended up being quite glad that she said something, because this was a really nice story.

The plot concerns the development of a community garden in a rough neighborhood in Cleveland. The story begins with the perspective of a young Vietnamese girl who decides to plant a handful of lima bean seeds in a vacant lot near her apartment building. The seeds are to honor the memory of her father, who passed away before she was born. Unbeknownst to her, some neighbors see her planting and watering her tiny garden and decide to join in and plant gardens of their own. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person who comes to plant something. Over time, the vacant lot is transformed from a smelly, rat-infested dumping ground into a lush and beautiful garden, with plants from many different cultures represented. The people who participate in the garden become more lush and beautiful too, with new friendships and a sense of community spirit blossoming right alongside the flowers and vegetables.

One of the strengths of this novel is its structure. Each of the book's thirteen chapters are narrated by someone different, and while the characters sometimes mention seeing or speaking to each other, each chapter is its own story. The narrators come from varied backgrounds and bring very different perspectives to the tale. They are separated from each other by age, race, financial status, county of origin and more. We only get a little bit of each person's history, as most chapters are only 4-5 pages long, but what we are given works beautifully to show how a group of people working together can bring positive change to their community. The short, constantly shifting perspective of the story leaves you wanting more, but in a good way, because you come to root for the characters to be okay and for the garden to be a success.

I was engaged in each of the narrators' stories, but the one that stuck in my mind the most was Sae Young's. Sae Young is a Korean woman who immigrated to America to run a dry cleaning business with her husband. Her husband ended up passing away from a heart attack when he was 37, leaving Sae to run the business on her own. She explains that she did fine by herself until her business was robbed one afternoon. The burglars beat Sae quite badly and made off with the cash she had on hand. The attack left her afraid to leave her apartment for nearly two years. Over time, she began venturing outside again and came across the garden. She felt an instant attraction to it and decided to plant her own section She grows the hot peppers she used to eat in Korea and begins to make some friends. The garden helps her come out of her shell and begin to feel like a part of a community again. This story, told in Sae's broken English, really touched me. It was beautifully told and illustrated perfectly how a project like a garden can help bring all different sorts of people together. I would venture to say that everyone who picks up this novel will feel a special connection to at least one of the narrators.

The overall message of the story is simple, and Seedfolks delivers that message in a skillful way. The idea that people are stronger together than they are separated and that we all have something to offer each other if we come together with kindness are lessons that have been repeated across many different novels. What makes this one unique is that it lets the many voices of the people coming together speak for themselves. Blending this narrative structure with the symbolic imagery of nurturing a garden raised this story to a level of thoughtfulness and soul not often found in middle grades fiction. This was a terrific little read, and one that I won't be forgetting any time soon.


Total Books Read in 2017: 79