The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgeson Burnett (1911)

This novel offers middle-grade readers a story in which a lost garden heals the isolation, grief, and illness of a British aristocrat and his son and niece at the turn of the 20th century.

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Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (1945)

This novel offers older readers a candid look at the lives of working-class characters in a California town as they work together to support one another.

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Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (2017)

This offers high school or adult readers a modern retelling of Antigone told from multiple perspectives and is set in Britain, Pakistan, and ISIS-occupied Syria.

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The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (1989)

This offers high school and adult readers a multi-perspective novel that explores the meaning of family, identity, and the circumstances that might posthumously mend the relationship between a mother and daughter.

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“A West Sider Saw Her Neighborhood Decline. Now, She and Her Family Are Rebuilding and Starting a Community Garden” by Trey Arline (2023)

This article from Block Club Chicago describes the transformative power of gardening in a report on a real urban revitalization project in Westside Chicago spearheaded by Elaine Bell-Quinn.