Paul Fleischman's Seedfolks is a wonderful and moving book about taking chances, cultivating a community one person at a time, and transforming trash heaps into treasures. Written essentially as a “middle grade” novel for kids in the 10-and-up age range (I think it leans more toward the young adult genre, myself), the novel has a message that is equally captivating to adults as well.


The Story

In a vacant, debris-filled lot in downtown Cleveland, Kim, a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl, plants lima bean seeds in honor of her dead father. She hopes her efforts will somehow prove to him -- this man she never knew, this father who was a farmer -- that she is a capable girl and that she, too, can make things grow.

So begins this fictional tale -- a sort of "literary patchwork quilt" made up of thirteen short chapters told from thirteen different perspectives: a suspicious, watchful old woman; a Haitian cab driver; a pregnant teenager; a Korean widow; a British nurse, and more -- with each narrator adding to the story and to the metamorphosis of the vacant lot. Almost magically, strangers become friends, a community is united, and an ugly, run-down lot is transformed into a beautiful, functional garden.

Like this review, Seedfolks is a quick read at only 80 pages. It is touching, humorous and thought-provoking.


Who'd Like this Book?

Just about anyone! After reading Seedfolks myself, I read it aloud to my three daughters. We all enjoyed it. I recommended it to my mother (a former school teacher and currently a public librarian), and she liked it so much she bought several copies for friends. My sister-in-law, a public school teacher, also loved it -- but if I recall correctly, she decided against reading it aloud to her fifth grade class. Some of the subject matter is a bit mature for that age group, I think.

Nevertheless, Seedfolks is definitely a kidlit book with multi-generational appeal.


Other Books by Paul Fleischman

Paul Fleischman won the 1989 Newbery Medal for Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, a book I’ve not read – yet! Other books include: Bull Run, another story told from multiple points-of-view, and Whirligig, which I loved, plus Weslandia, The Borning Room and more.

He is the son of author Sid Fleischman (author of the Newbery Medal-winning The Whipping Boy plus many others). Obviously, a talent for weaving together wonderful, award-winning stories must run in this family!


Details…

ISBN: 0060274719
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Published: April 1997
Recommended Age Range: 10 and up


Recommended: Yes