Synopsis
One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed.

Details
Publication Date:	1999-04-01
Illustrator:	Judy Pedersen

Size
Length:	69 pages
Height:	7.0 in
Width:	4.5 in
Thickness:	0.5 in
Weight:	1.6 oz

Publisher's Note

Common Ground

A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to Virgil's dad, who seems a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Mariclea, sixteen and pregnant, wishing she were dead.

Thirteen very different voices--old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood.

An old man seeking renewal, a young girl connecting to a father she never knew, a pregnant teenager dreading motherhood. Thirteen voices tell one story of the flowering of a vacant city lot into a neighborhood garden. Old, young, Jamaican, Korean, Hispanic, tough, haunted, hopeful'Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman weaves characters as diverse as the plants they grow into a rich, multi-layered exploration of how a community is born and nurtured in an urban environment.

00-01 Utah Book Award (Gr. 7-12)

A community grows together in this acclaimed book by a Newbery Medal-winning author. A determined young girl plants six bean seeds in a trash-filled lot in Cleveland and something truly magnificent grows. Thirteen different voices come together to tell one amazing story about a vacant lot that transforms a neighborhood. A 1998 ALA Best Book for Young Adults, "School Library Journal" Best Book and "Publishers Weekly" Best Book, (1997).

Industry Reviews
"Wise, entertaining sketches make this an ideal choice for crossover lists, reluctant readers, and multicultural studies."
Voya - Nancy Zachary (06/19/1997)

"Each individual tells his or her own story about coming to the United States, coming to the garden, and coming to a sense of community, in voices that have immediacy and strength."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books - Janice M. Del Negro

"Readers won't gain any great appreciation for the art and science of gardening from this, but they may come away understanding that people can work side by side despite vastly different motives, attitudes, skills, and cultural backgrounds."
Franklin