First, however, she starts lobbying the city to clear all of the garbage out of the lot. Leona passes by the lot and notices all the gardening taking place there and decides to join in. Leona begins her chapter thinking about a special goldenrod tea her grandmother used to drink, which she credits for her longevity. Chapter five is narrated by African-American mother of two, Leona. Juan and Gonzalo start their own garden in the lot. Juan tries to give Wendell gardening advice but struggles because he does not speak English. Wendell used to be the janitor at Gonzalo’s school. One day Gonzalo and his Tio (Uncle) Juan see Wendell gardening in the vacant lot. The fourth chapter is narrated by a boy named Gonzalo, who’s family recently immigrated to the States from Guatemala. This inspires Wendell to start his own garden in the vacant lot. Through her binoculars Ana can see that Kim’s bean plants are wilting and she asks Wendell to care for them, which he does. Wendell has bad associations with phone calls because he was informed about the deaths of both his wife and son via phone. He receives a call in the middle of the night from Ana.

In the third chapter we meet Wendell, who recently moved to Cleveland from a farm in Kentucky. Ana buys some binoculars so that she can see closer in the future. Ana goes down to the vacant lot and feels guilty about the assumption she made when she finds the bean plants. She sees Kim burying something in the vacant lot and is concerned that it is something dangerous or illegal. Ana enjoys watching fellow Gibb Street residents from her window. The second chapter is narrated by Ana, an elderly woman who immigrated to Cleveland from Romania in 1919. The lot is filled with garbage, but she finds a good spot near a discarded refrigerator where she plants some lima beans. In the hope of connecting with her father, Kim decides to plant a garden in a vacant lot near her house. Kim regrets that she has no memories of her father because he died before she was born. Kim is emotional on the cold April day our story begins because it is the anniversary of her father’s death.

The first chapter is narrated by a nine-year-old Vietnamese-American girl named Kim. The story describes an empty lot on Gibb Street in Cleveland, Ohio that transforms into a flourishing community garden with the help of a diverse group of thirteen Cleveland residents who each narrate one of the book’s chapters. The book was listed as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a School Library Journal Best Book, and a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book. Published in 1997, Seedfolks is a children’s novel written by Newbery award-winning author Paul Fleischman, with illustrations by Judy Pederson.

Seedfolks by paul fleischman