Seedfolks

Fleischman's touching novel about an abandoned inner-city lot transformed into a community garden is composed of 13 interwoven stories. A Vietnamese immigrant schoolgirl describes how she sets out to grow lima beans in memory of her dead father. Barbara Rosenblat reads the narrative of an elderly Romanian woman who witnesses Kim planting the seeds and assumes a crime is being committed. One by one, strangers in the neighborhood overcome their prejudices and join in the gardening--the school custodian from Kentucky, the Guatemalan teenager taught by his uncle to plant vegetables from the old country, the muscle-bound African- American planting tomatoes to prove his love for his girlfriend, the British nurse helping her elderly patient find a new lease on life. Many of the performers are nonprofessionals, and don't try to be otherwise. But the sincerity and integrity of this project bear this garden delicious fruit. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

February 3, 2003
Fleischman's talent for writing stories from various points of view makes his works particularly appealing in audiobook form. Here, 13 different characters come alive via the distinct performances of a widely varied cast. When Kim, a young Vietnamese girl, plants some lima beans in a run-down vacant lot near her Cleveland, Ohio, apartment building, she has no idea that her actions will be a catalyst for reinvigorating the community. An elderly Romanian woman, a widower from Kentucky, an African-American boy and a Hispanic man are just a sampling of the other nearby residents who gradually emerge to follow Kim's unintentional lead and begin to help grow a new garden—and newly fulfilled lives—in the lot. Though not all the readings are of equal caliber (the portrayals of Ana and Wendell are particularly strong; a couple of the child performers lack polish), the range of voices and styles suggests a true community—certainly the author's intention. Ages 10-up.