Sunday, June 27, 2010

two days in row!

Finished another book last night (92 pages worth). That makes two days in a row finishing up a book. Which I realize is a common occurrence for many, but it most certainly isn't for me. And of course, the book I finished last evening, Seedfolks, was an itty bitty thing. Oh but it was a wonderful little thing. On the anniversary of her father's death, which is recognized each year by her family, a little girl is feeling left out because she never knew her father. And what made her equally sad was that he had no memories of her because he died before she was born. Kim's father had been a farmer all his life, and she decides to reach out to him by planting some bean seeds. Of course, inner-city Cleveland is a long way from their native home of Vietnam, and April is a bit premature for planting beans here. Kim plants her seeds in a huge vacant lot, a lot used as a garbage dump by the inhabitants of the neighborhood, as well as by others who seem to feel no compunction about hauling off their debris and dumping it the poor section of town. Her act doesn't go unnoticed by a woman living in one of the surrounding buildings. She watches Kim as she comes back each day watering her seeds. And next we get to hear her little piece of the story. (At first, she suspects that Kim is up to no good.) And thus the book continues forward. Person by person. Story by story. We see this ugly piece of land slowly transformed. We see people begin to talk to people they never would have dreamed of talking to anywhere else. We see a community of care sprout from ground. It's not that every story is pretty, or everyone has altruistic motives, but that only adds to the beauty of this little book.

I think this book is probably aimed at middle grade readers. And while it's not something I think either Gray or Max would pick up on their own, I'm hoping I can convince them to read it. And I just had a copy sent to my dear friend Chris. Because he's the one who really sparked my enthusiasm for own little garden this year! :D

After finishing Seedfolks, last night I decided to go ahead and start my assigned reading for our family book club. I'm soooooo thrilled that Gray chose The Lightning Thief for me! I've been wanting to read it for ages. Read the first chapter (15 pages) last night, and let me tell you, thus far, I am definitely not disappointed! Yep, think I'm going to love this one. :D  Added bonus: I have a feeling I'm going to learn a bit about Greek mythology--something about which I know very little but would very much like to learn since Gray is so obsessed.

4 comments:

  1. Woohoo!! Two books in two days!! Oh I can't wait to read Seedfolks, Debi :D You so didn't have to get me a copy!! I would've done that :P It sounds incredible and like a little book that I'm just going to cherish. I so hope the boys read it!! You know, I just gave away my copy of The Lightning Thief on PBS :/ I'm starting to think I shouldn't have done that now....

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  2. Chris,
    Yeah, you *never* do such things. ;) I really hope you enjoy it!!!
    And Chris, Chris, Chris...I can't believe you gave away The Lightning Thief. Of course, I have never given away a book and then wished I had it back. :P But seriously, if the rest of this book is as enjoyable as the first 30 pages have been, I'm afraid I'm going to pester you into picking it up again. :D

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  3. I love mythology, and read a lot of it as a kid - though it was more the boring stuff, I guess: Edith Hamilton's Mythology, Bullfinch's Mythology, then when I was older, The Odyssey and Iliad, and that kind of thing. So I don't necessarily have a good suggestion as to other myth books to read, because I like boring ones :D

    But, while I am a horrible gardener, the IDEA of what you're talking about in Seedfolk is an interesting one to me - like I said, I can't garden, but I've thought the same thing on things on the internet, how the community building right now on the internet is largely a commercial interest (Facebook, for instance) and designed to simplify the process of marketing. Twitter, for example, was lambasted for ages, because it was founded with no plan for how to make money, just as a way to communicate. It's a difficult balance, because our whole damn society is built around earning money and sustaining the market - we serve the market instead of having the market serve us. Which isn't the best way to build actual communities - the village green wasn't laid out in the old village to provide a money-making opportunity, you know? I've thought about how you could do that on the internet: at least the internet is cheaper than a physical place.

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  4. Isn't The Lightning Thief fun?! I LOVED it when I read it last summer. And then when my sister came to visit last week, she had the second one in her luggage, because she had fallen in love w/ the series too (and she's a former reluctant reader). :D

    I was completely obsessed w/ Greek mythology in elementary school too. I dressed as Athena for Halloween in 5th grade.

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