Seedfolks (Joanna Colter Books)

Amazon.com

Sometimes, even in the middle of ugliness and neglect, a little bit of beauty will bloom. Award-winning writer Paul Fleischman dazzles us with this truth in Seedfolks--a slim novel that bursts with hope. Wasting not a single word, Fleischman unfolds a story of a blighted neighborhood transformed when a young girl plants a few lima beans in an abandoned lot. Slowly, one by one, neighbors are touched and stirred to action as they see tendrils poke through the dirt. Hispanics, Haitians, Koreans, young, and old begin to turn the littered lot into a garden for the whole community. A gift for hearts of all ages, this gentle, timeless story will delight anyone in need of a sprig of inspiration.

Book Description

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 sees a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Maricela, 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.

Chosen as a state and citywide read in communities across the country:
Vermont
Racine, WI
Tampa, FL
Newburgh, NY
Boca Raton, FL

Customer Reviews:

Good Stories, but Too Disconnected.......2007-05-31

It all started with one little girl. Kim's father died before she was even born, and she is afraid that he might not know her as he looks down from heaven. So she decides to do something to make him recognize her and to make him proud. He was a farmer back in Vietnam, so she takes a handful of bean seeds to a trash-covered vacant lot near her inner-city apartment and plants them. When he looks down and sees them, he will know she is his daughter.

Someone looks down from a window and is intrigued by this girl who keeps visiting the vacant lot in secret. Upon investigation she sees what is going on and decides to clear a little patch of land for a tiny garden of her own. Others observe and like the idea, and soon the vacant lot is covered with a patchwork of gardens from all sorts of people living nearby. Someone is able to bully the city into moving the trash off of this land. People who usually avoid eye contact at all cost are suddenly meeting neighbors and relating to one another. Through this garden project, a neighborhood of strangers becomes a real community.

I liked the characters in this story. They were all very vivid and their stories were well thought out. I also liked being able to see the different perspectives on this garden, and the different reasons people decided to plant things here.

I didn't like that each person's story was just dropped after it was told. I wanted the author to go back and write what the people were thinking. What did Kim think when her garden idea caught on? Was Sam able to stop the segregation he saw developing in the garden? I wanted some followup to each story.

Inspiring Seedfolks.......2007-04-25

Seedfolks is a book about a vacant city lot in Cleveland, Ohio that is abandoned until one day a Vietnamese girl decides to plant some beans as a way to become connected to her father who died before she was born. It tells the story of 13 different people who come together by this garden. They are all different ages and have different ethnic backgrounds and jobs. Somehow this garden brings them all together and means something different to each of them. The individual stories are interesting and touching.

My favorite part of the book is Gonzolo's Tio Juan story. He came to the U.S. with Gonzolo's mother and brother. Because he didn't speak English and couldn't work he would wonder around all day long with nothing to do and had to be baby sat by Gonzolo who who referred to him as a baby. One day he went off on his own in the neighborhood and came across the garden. The next day he went back and started working in the garden and planting seeds. Back in Guatemala he used to be a farmer and this gave him life again and he went from being a baby back to a man again.

I would recommend that you read Seedfolks. I think you will be touched by the 13 different people who are brought together through this community garden. In Reading Gonzolo's story it made me think about my Mom's parents who are immigrants from Portugal and how they too must of felt like Gonzolo's Tio Juan when they first arrived in the U.S., like they were babies and didn't know anything.

A Garden of Love.......2006-05-11

Seedfolks is a 69 page book, an easy read. Seedfolks is a book that shows that all different races, religions, cultures, and ages can come together to make something nice and beautiful and have meaning. They took a dump-like place and made it into something beautiful.
Some things I liked about this book were, that you can see how the author makes it so everyone of different backgrounds and stuff come together and do something together as one whole. Another thing that I liked about the book was that the author demonstrates how you can except people for who they are. In this story it seems like everyone is the equal and stuff like that. Like for example there was thing young girl who was pregnant and when this book was written it was like a big deal if you were pregnant at an early age but when she went to the garden no one judged her or anything like that. Another good thing about the book is that there is like no anger or anything bad in it, it seems like when everyone goes to the garden all there problems go away and most people go there to relax and just have fun.
Some things I didn't like about the book were that you cant really get to know one character because the character only has like 3 or 4 pages and there is 13 characters in the book so there really isn't one main character. Also in this book there was no plot, climax and there wasn't that big of a problem I mean there was a little one but it really didn't have a lot to do with what was going on in the book. Another bad thing about the book is it wasn't very interesting I'm the type of person who likes to read a book that you cant put down that you get really into but with this book I didn't feel that way. Overall I think Seedfolks was a decent book.

A Book for Building Community.......2006-04-25

This small book (69 pages) contains thirteen vignettes, each written from the point of view of a different person. Although the people begin as strangers from various ethnic backgrounds, they become acquainted as each cultivates a part of a vacant lot. As the lot becomes a place of beauty, individual lives are transformed as well -- and a community is created.

_Seedfolks_ is an excellent tool for building community among people with diverse backgrounds -- perhaps especially among educators, parents, and students.

Good reading for children.......2006-04-25

This is a good book for children who does not understand the meaning of working together. Also, this book was structured very intelligently; so that any reader can follow the same story but from other people point of views. In addition; the way the author painted colorful pictures of the city was very unique.

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Uno's review
Love Base!
another hit for GB!
Delightful illustrations, thoughtful message
Just the right size for any kid!

Uno's Garden
Graeme Base
Manufacturer: Abrams Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0810954737

Book Description

Art + Arithmetic + Environmental Awareness=Graeme Base's latest masterpiece

From the creator of the international best-sellers Animalia, The Water Hole, and Jungle Drums

Once again, beloved author Graeme Base introduces readers to a new world. And again, he interweaves the story with hidden images and mathematical problems (and solutions!), creating a book that can be read over and over, and at different levels for different ages.

When Uno arrives in the forest one beautiful day, there are many fascinating and extraordinary animals there to greet him—and one entirely unexceptional Snortlepig. Uno loves the forest so much, he decides to live there. But, in time, a little village grows up around his house. Then a town, then a city . . . and soon Uno realizes that the animals and plants have begun to disappear.

Uno's Garden is a moving and timely tale about how we all unknowingly affect the environment around us, just by being there—and how we can always learn from our mistakes and find ways of doing things better. It's an illuminating blend of storybook, puzzle book, and math book.

Customer Reviews:

Uno's review.......2007-07-10

This should be in the library of every school. Base has again gifted us with a wonderful book appropriate for all ages and relevent to today's ecological concerns.

Love Base!.......2007-05-12

Not only was the book another masterpiece from Base but my boys LOVED it as did I! One of the best authors for children ever and his illustrations are delicous!

another hit for GB!.......2007-02-13

I fell in love with Graeme Base when I stumbled across Sign of the Seahorse on a bargain clearance table. Since then I have purchased all of his books and as each new one comes out, I add them to our library. I know my girls will want these books for their kids. When I brought home 1 copy of Uno's Garden, my 4 yr old wanted clarification on exactily who the owner of the book was. Now I'm buying in triplicate! The story is sweet, the art is amazing, and the math concepts worked in are an added bonus. Love it!

Delightful illustrations, thoughtful message.......2007-01-15

We are big Graeme Base fans at my house. His illustrations and stories have a lot of depth and imagination. My 5 year-old loved Uno's Garden. He had a great time looking at all the animals and quickly decided on his favorite. The book has a good message about maintaining balance between people and nature and presents the message in a way that even very young children can understand. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves great illustrations and a thought-provoking story.

Just the right size for any kid!.......2007-01-04

When I look for children's books, I try to choose books that can be enjoyed on different levels as a child gets older, a book that can be shared by older and younger siblings or a book that has a worthy message. This one has it all: Its a picture book filled with lush (and humorous) images that invite stories to be created without relying on the words on the page. It is a story book about the need for balance in nature. It is a math book that goes from counting to addition and subtraction to multiplication. I gave it to my 2nd-grade-teacher husband and its one of the most popular books in his classroom.

Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town

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Killers go free....
Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town, by Phillip Finch
Southern Fried Justice
Why Some Death Row Inmates Get Life?

Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town
Phillip Finch
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Murder & Mayhem | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0679408614
Release Date: 1992-10-27

Customer Reviews:

Killers go free...........2006-09-17

Have you ever stopped to think that cases such as Tommy's, whose innocence I believe in, the person or persons that committed a murder are still free to kill again?

After being involved in a case of someone I care about and having the police, prosecutors, and the judge betray that person, I started reading stories of other real life people who had also been betrayed by the police, prosecutors, judges, well... the whole "justice" system. One of the first books I read was "Fatal Flaw". After reading this book, with my heart breaking for Tommy and his mother, I contacted Tommy. He became a very dear friend of mine, as did his precious mother. Tommy has lost both his father and his mother while being in prison. I cannot think of a more hurtful thing in the world than to be in prison, an innocent person, and to lose someone you love. Not to mention Tommy's wife having been murdered, and not by him.

This book is the most wonderful book about the way the lack of justice is allowed in our country. It is easy to read, easy to follow and understand. Phillip Finch is a wonderful author who did not go into the telling of this story because he believed in Tommy's innocence. Because of his ability to do research and his honesty, he had to come to the conclusion that Tommy is innocent. If you read this story, you will see why he and others thought Tommy could be guilty. You will think... wait! I thought he is suppose to be innocent. Keep reading.

You might also think on this while reading. Other facts have come to light since the book was written to prove even further that Tommy is not just "not guilty" but totally innocent. Where are those who committed these murders? Not in prison! Does that worry you? Does it make anyone safer because "someone" is in prison for the murders? Sadly that does satisfy too many people.

Does it bother you that this can happen to anyone? Maybe you or someone you love? You might think that it never would, but if you are in the wrong place at the right time for the police, you could have evidence put together to make you or someone you love look guilty. Think about that! Read this story. You can read this book online at no cost. Do a search for Tommy Zeigler.

One thing that I would like to tell you about this book that was most shocking to me is concerning the jury. Did you know that other than physical abuse, a jury can do or say just about anything to get other jurors to change their mind. Nothing is suppose to leave the jury room about what is said or done during the trial. Nothing is recorded. In this book you will learn how a juror was allowed to hold a gun to another juror's head and pull the trigger. This woman was a hold out for "not guilty". The juror wanted her to change her mind. The woman tried to tell the judge, but he would not allow the woman to talk. He did not want a mistrial. Finally the woman managed to get a message to the judge. He had a doctor write her a prescription for Valium and she was told to take the medication. She finally could hold out no longer, and caved in from the pressure, never believing Tommy was guilty.

Tommy is innocent. The system is flawed. Real killers are going free. Is that okay with you? What if you are the next person that gets murdered because of a case like this, convicting an innocent person, especially when the state knows the person on trial is innocent. How sad and scary! How unfair for the innocent and it brings no justice for the victims that are killed.

Fatal Flaw: A True Story of Malice and Murder in a Small Southern Town, by Phillip Finch.......2005-09-08

A true-crime account involving the brutal murders of a wife, her parents, and a by-stander, this book could also fall into the cold case category as unsolved. The convicted, William Thomas Zeigler, is presently on death row, appeals exhausted, but still hoping for justice. Through the years he has had a large number of supporters, legal, forensic, and others interested in his appalling situation who believe he should be exonerated. The reader will be shocked at the magnitude of the crime, the investigation(s), and the astonishing conclusions.

Southern Fried Justice.......2003-05-26

That Southern justice can be an oxymoron is no surprise. But this book lays out in stunning detail how the system can close ranks to create an impenetrable thicket of corruption. It methodically deconstructs the state's case to reveal a disturbing array of official misinformation, mistakes and misconduct. The case is no less pertinent today, almost 30 years later, for the defendant still resides on death row. Perhaps the most stunning aspect is that the case has never been successfully appealed as it wended its way North through Federal courts. One suspects that the trial of a wealthy white businessman who killed his wife and three bystanders for insurance hardly makes even the most strident card-carrying ACLU member's heart race. Indeed, a drug dealer who murdered a policeman has more success in the courtroom - overturning a case on nearly identical grounds under which the defendant's is not. How did he find himself in the Kafkaesque struggle? He broke perhaps the highest law of the deep South one year earlier by coming to the defense of a black man. The guilt in this frightening indictment of our legal process does not end with the defendant: It does not even begin there. Unfortunately, however, neither does it end with the original perpetrators of the crime. If you liked "The Thin Blue Lie", you will love this book.

Why Some Death Row Inmates Get Life?.......1999-04-07

In 1975, Winter Garden, Florida was a small, one-horse migrant labor and truck stop town bypassed by the supposed prosperity brought to Central Florida by the Disney Company. Spared the rapicious raping of the Kissimmee-St Cloud area, with its swamp draining killing of animals, Winter Garden remained as it had been--a lower class white working community dependent on trucking and citrus for its existence.

Enter William Thomas Zeigler who, by the author's own description drove oldsmobiles and detested rock and roll music. Unknown to many residents, the Zeigler family wealth stood at just over one million dollars--a princely sum in the 1970s. The quiet, modest veneer of the Zeigler family was broken by the existence of sexual problems between Tommy and Eunice Zeigler. Two weeks before the murder of Eunice, the couple stopped having intercourse with Eunice threatening to go to a fertility specialist in Orlando. Rumors abounded that Tommy was homosexual and a member of a sex ring of important local men. The author points out that Zeigler commited two unforgiveable crimes. One, he helped a black man retain a liquor license in the face of local and state opposition. Two, he helped break up a loan sharking ring manned by members of the Orange County (Orlando) Sherrif's Department. Later that year, the Sherrif, Dave Starr, resigned under pressure and his chief deputy, Leigh MacEachern, wne to jail convicted of charges of official corruption.

Finch outlines in great detail the malfeasance of police and prosecutors. First, sherrif's deputies trampled evidence at the crime scene. Later, judges and FBI authorities joined in to complete a fait accompli ensuring the swift journey of Mr. Zeigler to Florida's death row, where he remains to this day. Despite having two of the finest criminal defense lawyers in orlando--Ed Kirkland and Terry Hadley, Zeigler stood no chance of even getting a routine continuance or investigator access to the crime scene. Additionally, Finch outlines how key witnesses were not interviewed nor called to trial leaving the reader no doubt that the fix was in. Finch leaves the reader wondering an age-old question--how can a nation that calls itslef a democracy allow such malfeasance in its criminal justice system?

I have a special interest in this book having lived in Orlando at the time of the crime and having visited the crime scene as recently as last year. Finch has written an important, readable indictment of southern justice.

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Let's Give this Book Another Look

Court and Garden: From the French Hotel to the City of Modern Architecture (Graham Foundation Architecture Series)
Michael Dennis
Manufacturer: MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0262040824

Customer Reviews:

Let's Give this Book Another Look.......2000-10-26

I studied under Michael Dennis in graduate school and was strongly influenced by his approach to history. I think we'd benefit from rereading this history of a building type. It provides us with a format for analyzing the evolution of architectural and urban types over time, with proper acknowledgment of parallel developments in politics and economy. I urge students of architecture history and urbanism to look closely at this book and study the implications of Professor Dennis' argument.

The Granite Garden, Urban Nature and Human Design

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The Granite Garden

The Granite Garden, Urban Nature and Human Design
Anne Whiston Spirn
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0465027067

Customer Reviews:

The Granite Garden.......2000-09-07

I am somewhat new to reading books such as this for pleasure, but I read what I think will interest me. I was thrown at first by the title thinking that the book was going to be about hard scaping. Instead this book was a real eye opener to a lot of things we take for granted every day. Chapters titled soil, water, and air open up the reader to understand all that is envolved in making a city before you get to the buildings and people. I initally borrowed the book from the library while reading it but had to purchase a copy of my own for future reference. I give this book a high recommendation to anyone in the architecture or landscape fields.

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city Green By Kyle F
Great Story for a Community or Garden Unit

City Green

Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 068812786X

Book Description

Right in the middle of Marcy's city block is a littered vacant lot. Then one day she has a wonderful idea that not only improves the useless lot but her entire neighborhood as well. "DiSalvo-Ryan's warm text is enhanced by her soft pencil-and-watercolor illustrations depicting a diverse neighborhood drawn together by a community project."--Booklist.

Customer Reviews:

city Green By Kyle F.......2007-03-23

City Green
By: DyAnne DisSalvo-Ryan

This is my advice helping people is very nice. This story takes place
outside in an empty lot in a city. The characters are Old Man Hammer, Miss. Rosa, and a little girl. The girl and Miss Rosa start a garden in the lot, plant flowers, and pick up trash. The lot was empty but Old Man Hammer wouldn't let them lease it. In the end they end up starting the garden and planting flowers. Also in the end some sunflowers grew but none of them planted the sunflowers. I think that Old Man Hammer planted them. I liked this book. I recommend this book to people who like helping other people. I like this because it shows that you can help your community. I would give this book four stars. The message of this book is never stop trying. If you like doing
good things for your community than read this book.

By: Kyle

Great Story for a Community or Garden Unit.......2001-03-16

This is a wonderful story about a little girl who works with her neighbors to turn a vacant lot into a garden. Over the course of the story the grumpy old man changes because of the garden. It's a great story, high readability for middle to end third grade students on grade level.

The Rough Guide to Cape Town & the Garden Route 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

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The Rough Guide to Cape Town & the Garden Route 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)
Tony Pinchuck , and Barbara McCrea
Manufacturer: Rough Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Africa | Travel | Subjects | Books

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Rough Guide | Guidebook Series | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 184353505X

Book Description

With enough heart-pumping activities, from abseiling to paragliding, as well as more relaxed outings to beaches, vineyards and museums, Cape Town easily fills an extended visit. But many, if not most, visitors venture much further east, out along the Garden Route, whose enticements include some of the best land-based whale-watching in the world, crashing seascapes, dappled forests and, at its culmination, lions and elephants in the best game reserve in the southern half of the country. The Rough Guide to Cape Town and the Garden Route is the definitive guide to Cape Town, its stunning environs (including Table Mountain, Cape Point, the Winelands and the Whale Coast) and the Garden Route all the way to Port Elizabeth and the Addo Elephant National Park.

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A good book
Beautiful.
Best Book Ever!!!
Not the best, but really close
Not as good as "Annie"

Good Moon Rising
Nancy Garden
Manufacturer: Backinprint.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0595347673

Amazon.com

Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind is the classic lesbian young adult novel. It is so truthful and honest, it has been banned from many school libraries and even publicly burned in Kansas City. Her newest novel, Good Moon Rising, is also about a young teenage lesbian and is as moving and startling as Annie. Jan and Kerry are two aspiring actresses in high school. When they begin working on a production of The Crucible -- not coincidentally about another kind of witchhunt -- they find that they are at the center of a social and academic controversy. As always, Garden understands the problems of young people, the prevalence of social homophobia, and pain of being an outcast. Good Moon Rising is mandatory reading for anyone interested in the problems faced by gay youth today, or for that matter, the problems faced by gay people everywhere.

Book Description

Lambda Literary Award winner Good Moon Rising is about two young women who fall in love while rehearsing a school play, realize they're gay, and resist a homophobic campaign against them. Good Moon Rising, both a New York Public Library Book for the Teenage and a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, “takes us into the dynamics of homophobia” (Horn Book). “ Garden, who gave us one of the first honest, sensitive portrayals of two young women in love in the brilliant Anne On My Mind, Farrar, 1982, offers us another thought-provoking story of homosexual love.”—Voya

Customer Reviews:

A good book.......2007-09-14

I think that Nancy Garden has done it again. Though this book is not as good as Annie On My Mind, I think that the two books have alot of the same qualities. "Good Moon Rising" is about two young women who fall in love while they are rehearsing a school play, realize they are gay, and resist a homophobia campaign against them. Jan and Kerry are the two young women, they don't care about each other that much at first. Kerry gets the part Jan wanted; But Jan soon warms up to her when she is still apart of the play. They soon discover they are falling in love and dealing with the fact that they are gay, not an easy thing for the two teens. Then the homophobia campaign against them begins. They deal with this as best as they can; If you want to know if they make it to the end still together I recommend that you read the book.

Beautiful........2005-06-29

I checked Good Moon Rising out from my library yesterday. It took me less than 3 hours to read, I found it was impossible to put down. Jan and Kerry are believable, well-characterized girls. Some of the best aspects of this book were: the other students' reactions once a relationship between the girls was suspected, Kerry's uncertainty about moving away to make things easier, and the involvement of the Crucible and Mrs. Nicholson providing another part of the plot line. Their romance is true to life, and touching. The situations and harrassment that occurs are also very believable. One thing I think Nancy Garden could have done better would have been to describe their evolving platonic relationship, before the night at the movies. It seemed to be that their love came about abruptly, when a bit of unexplained time has, in fact, elapsed. Good Moon Rising is, nonetheless, an amazing book. I would reccomend this to anyone- straight, lesbian, gay, or bisexual.

Best Book Ever!!!.......2004-04-25

(...) Good Moon Rising really shows this through the author's wonderful development of Kerry and Jan, as well as the characters around them. They show a lesbian relationship as it really is - not really thinking of it as that, but just knowing that they are in love and that that is what matters. Some of the feelings they share are so beautifully described that I cried. I can't really describe the feelings I get from the story, the facts that move you, make you want to embrace Jan and Kerry with all of your love and be best friends forever. The characters seemed alive for me, the story beautiful, so real. Now reading the other reviews, I guess I have to go read Annie on my Mind now!!!

Not the best, but really close.......2004-04-16

Good Moon Rising was almost as good as Annie On My Mind, almost but not quite. It also doesn't foucs just on the relationship between Jan and Kerry. It focuses on Jan's life as it goes on and the problems they face when the other kids at school find out. I was so dissapointed for a while, thinking that Kerry actually would move away because it was so hard on her. But the ending...the ending was sweet. Nancy Garden lived up to my expectations for sure.

Not as good as "Annie".......2003-05-22

But a worthwhile read. The harassment the girls experience because of their suspected relationship is realistic and heartbreaking. The bravery required to come out is heartening. This is a fine novel for both gay and straight teens to read to gain better understanding of the difficulties of being gay in America. We need more books like this!

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The Wondrous Landscapes of DIeter Kienast

Kienast Vogt Open Spaces
Dieter Kienast
Manufacturer: Birkhäuser Basel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 3764360305

Book Description

Der Landschaftsarchitekt Dieter Kienast, geb.1945, gehört zu den wichtigsten Protagonisten der gegenwärtigen Landschaftsarchitektur. Seine internationale Bedeutung bleibt auch nach seinem frühen Tod im Jahr 1998 unbestritten. Dieter Kienast hinterfragt den traditionellen Begriff von Natur kritisch. In den von ihm gestalteten Landschaften drücken sich tiefgründige Auseinandersetzungen mit dem gegenwärtigen Verhältnis von Mensch und Natur aus. Wurden im ersten Band Kienasts Privatgärten zur Anschauung gebracht, so geht es nun um den weitaus komplizierteren öffentlichen Freiraum, in dem vielfältigste Bedürfnisse und Ansprüche des Menschen integriert werden sollen. Bei den hier dokumentierten Arbeiten aus Deutschland und der Schweiz handelt es sich um Anlagen zu Wohnüberbauungen, Gewerbebauten, Museen, Krankenhäusern etc. Dazu gehören: die Anlagen für die Swisscom in Worblaufen, die Schweizer Rückversicherung in Zürich, das Bundesarbeitsgericht in Erfurt und für die psychiatrische Klinik Waldhaus in Chur.

Customer Reviews:

The Wondrous Landscapes of DIeter Kienast.......2001-11-02

This book reveals an extraordinary body of landscape architectural work that is at least notably accomplished and, at its best, reflects a comprehensive expression and thorough understanding of the forces and elements that celebrate the confluence of nature and man. It is what Konrad Osterwalder -who selected Kienast as the "founder figure" of the landscape architecture program at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology- acknowledges as the act of entering into nature while retaining an awareness of cultural perceptions.

Kienast's work is reflective of a marvelous simplicity of which Mies would be proud, and his use of materials -especially plants- manifests a managed and thoughtful approach, almost tender and certainly romantic. Grounded in horticulture and plants like so many European landscape architects, it is through Kienast's measured use of a broader palette of materials common to the landscape that his remarkable talent is most celebrated. Especially revealing are the observations of his peers, presented in short essays, that honor both the technical and aesthetic achievements manifest in Kienast's work. Captured in a variety of images, the seasonal impacts that interplay with Kienast's landscapes are an essential representation that pays just homage to the reflective brilliance of his expressive interpretations.

The text shares Kienast's view that it is only through variety that a place can acquire an identity. The spirit of such places can emerge and be recognized only through emancipation of a satisfactory (landscape) design, relevant utilization, appropriate care, and healthy ecology: these criteria surelywere essential to the works of many great American landscape architects including Olmsted, Eliot, Farrand, Church, and others. The underpinnings of the bridge between contemporary European and American landscape architecture continue to be sustained through this text.

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From the very start, we know that many of the characters in Kathleen Cambor's haunting first novel will die before it's over. This lends a sepia-toned dignity to what is already a fairly somber tale. In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden tells the story of the Johnstown flood of 1889, in which over 2,000 people--mostly working folk, who had no say in the erection of the ill-considered South Fork dam--lost their lives. The author has enlisted a large cast, including real-life plutocrats Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie. But her focus remains on such fictional characters as Frank Fallon, a Civil War veteran enjoying a brief, platonic affair with the town librarian; his son Daniel, a labor organizer; and Nora Talbot, the science-minded daughter of a middle-class lawyer who comes to believe that the dam, built to create an upper-crust aquatic playground, is in danger of flooding the town below.

Cambor excels at depicting both the minor joys and the major tragedies in her characters' lives. Frank Fallon and his wife Julia, for example, have lost both of their children to diphtheria:

It meant something to Julia to be the one to wash the bodies before the undertaker came. To leave Caroline's sickbed long enough to tend to her two younger children. To fill the basin with water warmed by the wood stove, to smooth the hair, to touch and trace their flesh one last time, memorizing them again, as she had right after she had birthed them. Touching toes, chin, the curled cusp of ear, the rounded mound of cheek, the dips and promontories of their supple spines. Frank couldn't bring himself to watch.

Devotees of the historical novel will warm to Cambor's judicious use of period detail and her exacting prose, but may wish she had placed less emphasis on foreshadowing. We are told one too many times that the privileged men who built the dam had no interest in its structure or safety: "Someone should have been watching." On the other hand, Cambor has the good narrative sense to confine the flood itself and its horrific aftermath to the final pages of the book. There we are also given a glimpse of Nora Talbot in later life, marked by her youthful love affair with Daniel and by the waters that were--in every sense of the phrase--to part them. --Regina Marler

Book Description

In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden is the story of a bittersweet romance set against the backdrop of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood -- a tragedy that cost some 2,200 lives when the South Fork Dam burst on Memorial Day weekend, 1889. The dam was the site of a gentlemen's club that attracted some of the wealthiest industrialists of the day -- Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, and Andrew Carnegie -- and served as a summertime idyll for the families of the rich. In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden imagines the lives that were lived, lost, and irreparably changed by a tragedy that could have been averted.

Customer Reviews:

a great historical novel.......2006-05-05

When I bought this book, I thought I would become more knowledgable about the Johnstown flood, the damage it caused, the nationwide horror such a huge disaster brought about. Instead, the story reminded me of my own area, how class and money still affect both our personal life and the structure and function of the community today, just as in 1889. The community I live in is very similar to the socially stratified area Ms Cambor wrote about in the book. The rich, newly arrived in the last 20 years and drawn by the natural beauty of our area, live in expensive condos or McMansions built on land once occupied by farms or modest homes. They have (and want) no connection to the existing social structure, yet their dollars and political influence seem to rule every facet of our existance, the inflated cost of housing and goods, driving out of industry in the name of beautification at the expense of the decent paying jobs which existed a few decades ago, raising property taxes to pay for amenities not desired by the locals, and which locals cannot afford to pay for. On the site of a large concrete plant which had operated for a hundred years, a developer recently created a huge development of homes for the super-rich, built on LOTS that started at $1 mil. It is fenced, gated, and patrolled to keep out the riff-raff. Locals can only come in to perform services. Seduced by big money, local government allowed the development to be pushed though without abating the toxic effects of displaced concrete byproducts (ph levels the same as houshold bleach) on the beautiful surrounding waterways. Now the rich and famous own multi-million dollar properties on waterfront which is vitually unusable, while plumes of contaminated water extend into Lake Michigan. I am sure that every person who reads this book will be struck by a different aspect, because it is a very multi-faceted work. If you are looking for romance, social conscience, and a very humanistic introduction to the late 1800s, this book will appeal to you. If you enjoyed this book, you might also like "Vindication" by Frances Sherwood, another very well written novelized history.

Just OK.......2004-05-17

As a history prof, I see lots of other historical novels that put this one to shame.

Tragedy.......2003-10-28

The attention of many of the professionals of the state of Johnstown is being attracted to the Dam of Johnstown, near a very large lake. One of the professionals of the state, a lawyer, James Talbot, tells his business manager that the dam is very weak and should be closed down until it undergoes restructuring, for the safety of the people. However, his business manager disagrees with him, justifying himself with the point that, under the Dam are the town's most wealthy people, vacationing in the Clubhouse. He did not want to inconvenience those people due to their wealth and power. Thus, the Dam remained open, to James' disgust.
In Boston, this drew the attention of one young engineer, Mr. Morris, and he began professionally restructuring the dam, strengthening it. Yet, there was a danger and risk involved. If the water reached a certain level inside the dam, it would flood and burst, endangering the lives of the people of Johnstown. After about fifty years, in 1879, the Dam once again began failing, and fell, once again, into very poor condition. Many contractors bought the Dam, to the delight of the Dam's previous owners. All the previous owners wanted most was to get the Dam out of their hands, to be free from responsibility of it, they saw it as a bother. Therefore, when one man went to buy it off of another owner, that owner would be very happy to be free of it. Unfortunately, though contractors bought the Dam, none ever took the responsibility of maintaining it. Instead, they poured out all their energies and money into providing more comfort for the already wealthy environment of the Clubhouse, for the enjoyment of the people. That money could have been invested into repairing the dangerous Dam that was in very faulty condition. No one knew what dangers this Dam could have brought to the people below, monumental dangers.
In the times of the rains, all of Johnstown was flooding. The lake underneath the Dam was flooding as well. Therefore, there was not enough room for the water released from the Dam to fall into, and instead, it would flood into the rest of the town. This is exactly what happened. In 1889, the Dam reached its maximum height, and burst, throwing millions of tons of water into Johnstown, and washing the town away, covering it with water. Everything was lost, and this was the end of Johnstown, due to the flooding of the neglected Dam.
None of the main characters that were described in the novel had a specific role in the plot of the story. Instead, they were all submerged into equal roles in the plot. There was a love story surrounding the main event of the bursting of the Dam and flooding of Johnstown. And the novel described many of the relationships the people of Johnstown had with each other. They seemed to be all united into one family. Every one knew each other. I think this bond within the people contributed greatly to the tragedy of the event. For we felt like we were a part of that union, and to see it completely diminished by the flooding is very emotional. Especially regarding the story of the young love between Nora Talbot, a scientist, and daughter of the lawyer who first took part in the Dam, James Talbot, and Daniel Fallon, a son of one of the characters, a veteran, Frank Fallon.
This novel is more like the telling of a historical event. Although it involves tragedy and romance, the story is centered on the historical event of the flooding of Johnstown due to a neglected Dam, because Nora and Daniel's romance was just beginning to flourish after many years of shy and distant encounters, when their lives were unexpectedly ended due to this flooding. Yet, it is good, because it is the combination of a regular novel, because it includes romance, yet involves historical facts, such as this event of the Dam of Johnstown. Therefore, I could recommend it to anyone who likes reading novels, specifically to a more mature audience, since it also has educational aspects to it. It is a novel centered on a historical event. Yet, if one is easily depressed, reading this book may not be a good idea, for it is very tragic to be sentimentally bonded to a relationship in the book, and then see it all diminish so rapidly. Yet, this was to be expected since the beginning of the novel.

Life before an epic catastrophe..........2002-12-15

At the end of the 19th Century, America is a nation of vast opportunity and evolving values, certainly obsessed with the vast fortunes amassed by the likes of Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon. Their private resort above the industrialized town of Johnstown, PA, is a jewel in the crown of the vast wealth of these Robber Barons. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Lodge features a man-made lake braced by an ill-repaired dam that ultimately imperils the town resting at its valley floor.

Using personal detail to humanize this disaster, Cambor introduces complex characters from Johnstown as well as one family who summers for a brief two weeks each year at South Fork, albeit a family not of the highest level of that very particular pecking order. In Johnstown we meet Julia of the broken spirit and her husband Frank, helpless against life's random cruelties, their proud son Daniel, and Grace, a runaway from an unbearably lonely life. Representing South Fork is the idealistic Nora, a child of fortune who reaches beyond her personal limitations before everything changes forever.

The novel actually ends with the flood, a vast surge of water from the ruptured dam, unleashing death and devastation that Memorial Day, May 30, 1889, obliterating Johnstown in minutes. I confess I wanted more detail about the actual flood and its physical consequences, who survived and who took responsibility. This is but a small complaint in a rich novel of American life on the cusp of a new century, a time when the American Dream still twinkles in the eye of the working man and when hard work promises a guarantee, security for a man's family after a life of labor. Detail is crafted into every page, days lived in hope and reason, pride and dignity. But, lest I wax too nostalgic, their time is cut short by nature's wrath and the enormous cost of privilege for the few. The novel opens with this quote, setting the tone for the quiet unfolding of catastrophe: "I have been watching you; you were there, unconcerned perhaps, but with the strange distraught air of someone forever expecting a great misfortune, in sunlight, in a beautiful garden" (Maurice Maeterlinck). Indeed, such disasters do create a sense of vigilance, of dreams discarded and the sad loss of innocence.

Money begets tragedy, and gets away with it.......2002-09-17

On Memorial Day in 1889, above the town of Johnstown, Pa, the South Fork dam burst nearly wiping out the town itself and many smaller towns downriver. Thousands were killed, livestock decimated and the township's buildings, homes and infrastructure were literally wiped off the face of the earth. Those that survived the initial assault were tested furthur as the cold night bore down on them. Shivering, injured, separated from loved ones, thirsty from the lack of potable water, left without food, desperate for medicine, bandages and clothes, they huddled together praying to make it until morning. While waters swirled around them, the structures they managed to seek refuge in threatened to collapse, casting off the survivors into black, raging waters. Even worse were those trapped inside structures and wedged downstream against the low bridge. Fires had ignited from the still burning stoves of homes knocked off their foundations. Massed in a huge jam, people burned to death and their screams could be heard throughout what was remaining of the town. This was a tragedy of immense proportions.

The real tragedy is that the wealthy men who were ultimately responsible for the maintainance of the dam failed to make the dam safe. The luxury of having a recreational and fishing lake were granted only to those rich enough to afford to vacation at the "club", and the area was strictly denied to any trespassers not registered with the fishing and hunting club. Little to no consideration was given to the THOUSANDS of people below the dam, nor their homes, their animals and their livlihoods. It is inconceivable that such callous disregard existed and that these "important" men got away with such transgressions!!

I guess I should not be surprised, as the foundation was set, and the same kind of disregard exists today as the corporate rich rob and plunder their companies at the expense of the working people.

Skillfully revealed, the author makes no mistake as to who is responsible. Delightfully entertaining, there are intriguing characters to lighten the impact of such a horrific event.

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