Seedfolks

ALA Best Book for Young Adults ∙ School Library Journal Best Book ∙ Publishers Weekly Best Book ∙ IRA/CBC Children’s Choice ∙ NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts

A Vietnamese girl plants six lima beans in a Cleveland vacant lot. Looking down on the immigrant-filled neighborhood, a Romanian woman watches suspiciously. A school janitor gets involved, then a Guatemalan family. Then muscle-bound Curtis, trying to win back Lateesha. Pregnant Maricela. Amir from India. A sense of community sprouts and spreads.

Newbery-winning author Paul Fleischman uses thirteen speakers to bring to life a community garden’s founding and first year. The book’s short length, diverse cast, and suitability for adults as well as children have led it to be used in countless one-book reads in schools and in cities across the country.

Seedfolks has been drawn upon to teach tolerance, read in ESL classes, promoted by urban gardeners, and performed in schools and on stages from South Africa to Broadway.

The book’s many tributaries—from the author’s immigrant grandfather to his adoption of two brothers from Mexico—are detailed in his forthcoming memoir, No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer’s Road to Page One.

“The size of this slim volume belies the profound message of hope it contains.” —Christian Science Monitor

And don’t miss Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, the Newbery Medal-winning poetry collection!

This beloved, award-winning novel shows the power of planting a single seed:

• Multiple Perspectives: Experience the garden’s first year through the eyes of thirteen distinct characters—from a nine-year-old girl hoping to honor her father, to a teenaged boy trying to win back his girlfriend with tomatoes.
• Community Building: Watch as a diverse, inner-city neighborhood in Cleveland transforms suspicion and isolation into friendship and connection across cultures.
• Immigrant Stories: Discover a rich mosaic of voices with roots in Romania, Guatemala, Haiti, Korea, and beyond, each finding common ground in the soil.
• A Classic for Schools: A perfect, accessible choice for classroom reads, ESL students, and powerful discussions on social justice, tolerance, and what it means to belong.