Seedfolks

• Genre: Fiction; middle-grade realistic
• Originally Published: 1997
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 710L; grades 7-9
• Structure/Length: 13 “voices”/chapters, each a different character’s point of view; approx. 100 pages; approx. 1 hour, 26 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: When a young Vietnamese girl plants bean seeds in a vacant Cleveland lot, others initially regard her with suspicion; soon, however, people of many different ages and backgrounds come together, connected by her simple act.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: The source material touches on the topics of homelessness, domestic violence, substance abuse, gun violence, racialized harassment, the Holocaust, teen pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, and suicidal ideation. The source material also uses both outdated and offensive words to describe various ethnic and racial groups and to depict racist harassment.

Paul Fleischman, Author

• Bio: Born in 1952 in California; raised in Santa Monica; son of children’s writer Sid Fleischman; moved briefly to New Hampshire at 19; held a variety of jobs before becoming a writer; won the Newbery Medal (Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices; 1988), a Newbery Honor (Graven Images; 1982), and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction (Bull Run; 1993); earned a National Book Award nomination (Breakout; 2003)
• Other Works: Dateline: Troy (2006); The Mind’s Eye: A Novel (2013); Whirligig (2013); Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines (2014)
• Awards: Seedfolks listed with honor on the 1998 Best Books for Young Adults; received the 1999 Buckeye Children’s Book Award and the 2008 Special Book Award of China