The Vegetable Museum

December 15, 2018
When Chloë and her father move from Montreal to Victoria, Chloë doesn't think it will be for forever. After all, her whole life is back in Montreal.Her mom, her best friend, and her city neighborhood are all waiting for her to return, so she doesn't feel she needs to work too hard to settle into the new place. But she does want to learn more about her grandfather, Uli. Her dad and Uli don't get along well, and no matter how many times Chloë asks to be told why, her dad always puts her off. But when she starts spending time with Uli in his garden, where he grows seeds that have been given to him by many different people, she wants to know even more. Perhaps best known for her nonfiction, Mulder carefully crafts a book about family and vegetables that offers a glimpse into the ways in which gardening can become something more than simply growing plants. The scenes of Chloë and her grandfather are poignant and realistic and might even spark some agricultural interest in middle-graders. But the rather slow-burning narrative sometimes gets bogged down with internal reflection, and the slow reveal of plot points can occasionally feel stagnant. However, the characters (who are mostly white, as a friendly Japanese-Canadian neighbor points out) are warm, and the concept of seed vaults is made wonderfully personal.Families are complicated, but gardening usually isn't. (Fiction. 9-11)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2019
Grades 4-8 Chlo� and her dad move from Montreal to Victoria to be near her paternal grandfather, Uli, who is recovering from a stroke, and to give her parents time apart. Chlo� doesn't really know her grandfather, but she's drawn into helping with his backyard vegetable garden. She is intrigued by the story of each heirloom seed; yet, the story behind the strained relationship between her dad and grandfather eludes her. Nevertheless, she begins to settle in, only to be confronted with her grandfather's second stroke. As plans unfold to demolish his house, Chlo� enlists the aid of Nikko, a boy her age in her apartment building, to find spots around the city where they can move the plants from her grandfather's special garden, though her valiant but unsuccessful search for the precious box of seeds makes her worry she's let her grandfather down. In this story of family, friendship, loss, love, forgiveness, and hope, Mulder also introduces readers to the little-discussed topics of heirloom vegetables, seed banks, and gardening.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)