Tina lives surrounded by the brick and pavement of the city. More than anything, she longs for a garden where she can grow something fresh and pretty. She suggests using the small, hard patch of dirt in back of their drab apartment building, but her mother scoffs, "You just try and grow something in New York City dirt!"
Undaunted, Tina tries. She plants some carrots she has found in the refrigerator, waters them with great care, and looks happily for someone to tell about her new garden. But her mother and brother are not home. And her old grandmother, who never talks (and seldom even stirs), is very hard to tell things to, since she never gives any sign that she has heard. When her mother comes home to find Tina has planted the family's supper, she orders her to dig the carrots right up again. So, during the long, hot city summer, Tina goes on wishing in vain for a garden.
One day Tina confides her dream to her brother Eddie, and he shows her some sunflowers he has discovered growing in an empty lot. Tina's joy at finding a garden that everyone can look at and share, and the way she communicates her joy and the bright beauty of the flowers to her hunched and silent old grandmother, make a touching ending to this realistic and charming story.
--From the dust jacket
Did you find this review helpful?