Seedfolks By Paul Fleischman

Challis 1 Olivia Vessey Ms. Challis ELA 7-6 6-3-24 Seedfolks draft The novel Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman is a realistic-fiction book. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, a little Vietnamese girl named Kim starts a garden in her neighborhood to try to impress her father. The story follows the perspectives of 13 different people. Each member of the garden holds their own cultures, backgrounds, and struggles, but they learn to band together and better their community. Character by character, each individual transforms an empty lot into a beautiful garden. A recurring literary theme that is also present in Seedfolks is that small changes throughout a community can work towards a greater impact. One example of this theme being present in the novel is a character named Wendell’s perspective.

Can't change myself into a millionaire. But a patch of ground in this trashy lot- I can change that.”(15) Therefore, this statement shows that even taking the tiniest steps to try to fix something proves more useful than complaining about a solution. While he acknowledges the negative of the world, he relates to the theme of working towards short goals for a common result by working to change the neighborhood. Even if he just watered a few seeds, he contributed to the Gibb Street Garden’s success. In the same chapter, Wendell also states “Out of nowhere the words from the Bible came into my head: ‘And a little child shall lead them”(15).The “little child” represents Kim leading the garden. Although she is a little girl, she still greatly contributed to the novel. This correlates to the idea of working towards a goal as a community. After getting the garden started, a Jewish man named Sam views the garden as a “paradise” (29). After exploring, Sam decides to try to find a solution for watering crops. With the help of a little girl, he found a way to use rain to water