What is the setting of Seedfolks?
Paul Fleischman’s wonderful young adult novella takes place in Cleveland, Ohio. I couldn’t remember if an actual date is ever given in the novella, so I did a little research and still couldn’t find a date for the setting. The book is published in 1997, so that gives us a clue that it is, perhaps, set in recent times. If I had to make an educated guess, I would put the setting in the 1980’s when the inner cities of most of the major cities in the United States were in drastic states of decay. The building of housing projects started by the Department of Housing of Urban Development (HUD) in 1965 had run its course in its ability to keep up with the demand of housing for the poor in the inner city. The housing projects quickly started to deteriorate, as there was little money for upkeep and few jobs for those in the inner city to obtain. Crime and drug abuse became rampant in the projects, and people had very little hope or money to get up and out of their impoverished situations.
Although the novel is set in Cleveland, it represents many urban areas around the country. The novel takes place in an urban area on Gibb St. where a vacant lot exists filled with trash. The lot on Gibb St. separates different ethnic groups of the area. Blacks, Latinos, and Asian immigrants, as well as long time elderly residents of the area, live in close proximity to each other but are segregated by cultural and ethnic differences. It is the planting of a few lima beans in a garden by Kim, a young Vietnamese girl, that brings the community together to help make their lives and environment better.
What is the plot of Seedfolks?
"God Almighty first planted a garden," Sir Francis Bacon once noted. In Paul Fleischman's novel Seedfolks, a junk-strewn, rat-infested city lot is transformed into an urban oasis, a process that transforms the gardeners' lives, as well. From the day when the secret plantings of a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl named Kim are discovered to be nothing more illicit than lima beans, the ugly lot is headed for changes. Neighboring apartment dwellers of all ages and many cultural backgrounds begin planting there, too, and soon a new society—a vital and diverse human family—has developed. Every main character has improved his or her own life as well as others', all the while setting in motion improvements among relatives, friends, chance acquaintances, and even passersby.
For more great commentary and analysis of themes, characters, and other aspects of this book, follow the enotes link.
What is the setting at the beginning of the book Seedfolks?
Seedfolks is set in Cleveland in an ethnically-diverse and fairly poverty-stricken neighborhood. Each chapter centers around one character and follows their relationship with the community garden. However, before there is a garden, nothing exists but a vacant, trash-filled lot.
In the very beginning, we meet Kim. She is a young girl mourning a father she never knew. Kim's family immigrated from Vietnam. Although she never met her father—he died before she was born—Kim seeks some connection with him. Remembering that he was a farmer in Vietnam, she takes a handful of lima beans and goes to the empty lot outside, hoping to plant them as a kind of homage to her father.
The setting is grim: an unused, unloved piece of land in the middle of the city. It is covered with garbage, and Kim even surprises a couple of rats. The weather outside is equally depressing. It is a freezing April morning—nothing like Kim imagines the weather is like in tropical Vietnam.
Still, using a spoon, she digs holes in the frozen ground and plants her lima beans. She waters them from her school thermos. As she does this, Kim imagines her father's spirit hovering overhead, watching and smiling down on her. Although the setting seems an improbable place for a garden or any kind of life at all, Kim vows that her seeds will thrive.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.