MMGM (1/16/2017): Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Note: If a glitch sent you here when you were looking for Natalie Aguirre's post, click here.

Firstly, the winners of the New Year's Poetry Contest and their poems have been announced! Click here to read them. Secondly, here are the results of the New Year's resolutions sidebar poll:
  • To read more books: 5
  • To stop buying books that you won't like: 1
  • To get rid of the books you don't need/want: 4
  • To find more books online as opposed to in a store: 1
  • To find more books in a store as opposed to online: 1
  • Total voters: 6
Be sure to enter in either of my sidebar polls (the top one has been reopened, and the old one is new and will close in about 2 weeks)! Finally, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I am recommending a diverse book, which is Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman.




Here's the publisher's description:

A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to Virgil's dad, who sees a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Maricela, sixteen and pregnant, wishing she were dead.
Thirteen very different voices and perspectives—old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful—tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood.

I love this book! It is set in a neighborhood in Cleveland inhabited by people of many different ethnicities, all of whom have, in the past, been mostly separate. The book is told through the viewpoints of about 15 different characters, each having a different personality and backstory. In the unique story, the characters are changed by the garden and brought together. Each character's story is only about 5 small pages with large font, comprising the 87-page book. However, every moment is important to the story, making it feel just as complex as any longer book would. This is a great book for everyone!

Comments

  1. We were thinking along similar lines today, with diversity in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

    I remember shelving and selling SEEDFOLKS from my many years at the bookstore, but I'm ashamed to say I never actually read it. Sounds short enough to read in one sitting.

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  2. Ooo I love books from different perspectives! Thanks for the review!

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  3. This really sounds like a great read. I love historical fiction. Thanks for sharing your review.

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