Most Popular Books by Paul Fleischman

ALA Best Book for Young Adults ∙ School Library Journal Best Book ∙ Publishers Weekly Best Book ∙ IRA/CBC Children''s Choice ∙ NCTE Notable Children''s Book in the Language Arts A Vietnamese girl plants six lima beans in a Cleveland vacant lot. Looking down on the immigrant-filled neighborhood, a Romanian woman watches suspiciously. A school janitor gets involved, then a Guatemalan family. Then muscle-bound Curtis, trying to win back Lateesha. Pregnant Maricela. Amir from India. A sense of community sprouts and spreads. Newbery-winning author Paul Fleischman uses thirteen speakers to bring to life a community garden''s founding and first year. The book''s short length, diverse cast, and suitability for adults as well as children have led it to be used in countless one-book reads in schools and in cities across the country. Seedfolks has been drawn upon to teach tolerance, read in ESL classes, promoted by urban gardeners, and performed in schools and on stages from South Africa to Broadway. The book''s many tributaries—from the author''s immigrant grandfather to his adoption of two brothers from Mexico—are detailed in his forthcoming memoir, No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer''s Road to Page One. "The size of this slim volume belies the profound message of hope it contains." —Christian Science Monitor And don’t miss Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, the Newbery Medal-winning poetry collection! This beloved, award-winning novel shows the power of planting a single seed: Multiple Perspectives: Experience the garden''s first year through the eyes of thirteen distinct characters—from a nine-year-old girl hoping to honor her father, to a teenaged boy trying to win back his girlfriend with tomatoes. Community Building: Watch as a diverse, inner-city neighborhood in Cleveland transforms suspicion and isolation into friendship and connection across cultures. Immigrant Stories: Discover a rich mosaic of voices with roots in Romania, Guatemala, Haiti, Korea, and beyond, each finding common ground in the soil. A Classic for Schools: A perfect, accessible choice for classroom reads, ESL students, and powerful discussions on social justice, tolerance, and what it means to belong.

"I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT MY EYE IS UPON YOU". It is December 1681, and the words of Mr. Baggot, the tithingman, terrify young William. William is living a strange double life. By day he is a printer''s apprentice living in a white man''s house. By night, he is Weetasket of the Narraganset tribe who must risk Baggot''s wrath to search for his lost brother. Then comes the winter celebration of the Saturnalia -- the ancient Roman holiday on which masters and slaves trade roles. Will William''s secrets be revealed? And what dark deeds of others will be brought to light on this fateful night?

Provides young readers with a colorfully illlustrated picture book of poems about conversation, talk, and gossip.

This National Book Award finalist is now in paperback. Growing up in foster care, Del pens a one-woman play about a Los Angeles traffic jam, providing readers with a backstage pass into a young playwright''s psyche as her play parallels her own life.

A grandmother tells a story about a young girl who uses her wits and what is available to her to help her survive when she is lost in the snow. Includes instructions for creating a number of string figures mentioned in the story.

"This fantastical picture book, like its hero, is bursting at the seams with creativity. . . . a vigorous shot in the arm to nonconformists everywhere" — Publishers Weekly (starred review) Enter the witty, intriguing world of Weslandia! Now that school is over, Wesley needs a summer project. He’s learned that each civilization needs a staple food crop, so he decides to sow a garden and start his own — civilization, that is. He turns over a plot of earth, and plants begin to grow. They soon tower above him and bear a curious-looking fruit. As Wesley experiments, he finds that the plant will provide food, clothing, shelter, and even recreation. It isn’t long before his neighbors and classmates develop more than an idle curiosity about Wesley — and exactly how he is spending his summer vacation.

A twelve-year-old mute boy sets off to find his mother in a blizzard, and becomes the captive of an evil woman in the Half-a-Moon Inn. ‘A suspenseful tale with archetypal characters and a haunting atmosphere. . . . The brisk pace and steady accumulation of events build tension, while Fleischman''s fine writing begs to be read aloud." —BL. 1980 Children''s Reviewers'' Choices (BL) Notable Books of the Year 1980 (NYT) 1980 Golden Kite Award Honor Book for Fiction (SCBW) Children''s Books of 1980 (Library of Congress) 1980 Silver Medal for Literature (Commonwealth Club of California)

Three tales of mystery, comic misadventures, and dark deeds focus on what happens to people who put their trust and faith in graven images. A Newbery Honor Book. Simultaneous.

“Instantly engrossing, free of self-pity, and resonant with resilience and gratitude . . . A powerful introduction to the American immigrant story.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) When a little girl visits her great-grandfather, she asks about the collection of matchboxes harboring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country, before he could read and write: the olive pit his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn’t enough food; a bottle cap he saw on his way to the boat; a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game. Newbery Medalist Paul Fleischman and acclaimed illustrator Bagram Ibatoulline tell a breathtaking immigration tale with appeal across generations.

Cue the lights for a nonstop farce that juxtaposes seven different plays--performed simultaneously--with a comic genius reminiscent of masters from Monty Python to the Marx Brothers. Combing spot-on parodies of Anton Chekhov, Agatha Christie, Tennessee Williams, Samuel Beckett, Neil Simon, and performance art, and throwing in scenes from "Richard III " for good measure, "Zap" mixes genres and story lines with the same speed that we flick through channels and navigate browser windows. In the ten years since "Zap" was first published, Paul Fleischman has spoken to many of the producers, actors, and directors who have brought his hilarious and insightful play to life. With their feedback in mind, he presents this fine-tuned, newly revised edition of a play that comically explores the collision of narratives that occurs on our screens every day and rings true now more than ever.

Jack the B. April/03.

After being forced to sell the animals he loves, a farmer cuts his hedge to look like them and teaches his sons about following their hearts.

Sixteen-year-old Courtney, paralyzed in an accident, learns about the power of the mind from an elderly blind woman who takes her on an imaginary journey to Italy using a 1910 guidebook.

Although his nearsightedness causes difficulties, Finzel the Far-Sighted is blessed with the ability to see into the future.

Welcome to Cliffside High, the school of your nightmares. It''s run by the Huns, a ruthless clique of rich students—and, as poor Charity Chase discovers, messing with them can be murder. There''s Tiffany, avid reader of every beauty magazine available; Brooke, desperate for a date; Danielle, Al Capone in Miss America''s body, with her sights set firmly on a millionaire''s son Drew. Unfortunately, like every other boy at Cliffside, Drew only has eyes for Helga, the ravishing new student from Norway ... wherever that may be. As far as Danielle is concerned, Helga could be from another world. In fact, if she doesn''t lay off Drew—she just might be. Getting rid of her ought to be as easy as taking candy off a helpless old lady. Only something weird is happening to Danielle and her friends, something much nastier than the horror stories she loves to read, something that can only be described as a fate totally worse than death.

Mothers give birth in the borning room. The dying take their departure there. Outside the Lott family''s Ohio farmhouse, the Civil War rages, slavery falls, and the world marvels at the wonder of electricity. Inside, within the walls of the borning room, Georgina Lott will experience her life''s greatest turnings. Across the years, she discovers womanhood and first love, experiences the mourning that comes with loss, and, as did her mother and grandmother, at last takes her place in the room as another precious life is about to begin.

Seventeen-year-old Olivia hasn’t seen her father since she was eight months old. But when he summons her out of the blue, Olivia travels cross country to New Hampshire to meet him. That summer, she learns to adapt to rural life and to try to understand her reclusive father. The next summer, following high school graduation, she returns to recreate her father’s seventy-mile annual bike ride—reflecting on her own personal journey to understand the true meaning of love and kinship. When Olivia is summoned by her father, a man she barely remembers, to determine whether she is worthy of inheriting his legacy, she embarks on a personal odyssey that teaches her the true meaning of love and kinship.

Miss Pym''s class is in for a comic adventure beyond their wildest dreams. They''ve boarded the Rocky Mountain Unlimited, a mysterious train that''s winding its way into the heart of prehistoric times. Join the class-and a horrified Miss Pym-as they scramble dinosaur egg for breakfast, go stegosaurus-back riding and pterodactyl gliding, and play soccer with their giant reptilian friends.