First published 2005
Kim, a young Vietnamese girl, plants lima beans in a trash-filled vacant lot to honor her father's memory. Her small act of gardening sparks something unexpected in her Cleveland neighborhood. One by one, other residents notice the sprouting plants. Gonzalo, a Guatemalan teenager, helps an elderly Romanian woman start her own plot. Leona, an African American office worker, fights city hall for clean soil. A pregnant Mexican teenager finds solace among the tomato plants. Each neighbor brings their own story, their own seeds, their own hopes to the growing garden. The vacant lot becomes a place where a Haitian boy learns English, where a British nurse discovers friendship, where strangers become allies. But the garden faces threats from vandals and skeptics. As seasons change, so do the people who tend this small patch of earth. What began as one girl's private ritual grows into something larger, connecting lives across language barriers and cultural divides through the simple act of making things grow.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, slice-of-life
Setting: Cleveland, Vacant Lot
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
Audiobook · Blackstone Publishing