Mabel R. Bennett

I read this book while in the third grade. At first I thought it was another version of The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. After I began reading, I realized my mistake, but the book was worth reading so I continued. It is a rare book, unfindable, like many other books I like. Some books are not universally popular, and are passed over unnoticed by the general public. This book is like that.

It is a story of orphans, and of a multicultural community all in a tenant building by circumstance.The people of the community are not friendly with each other to begin with, but they begin to know each other through shared experiences and learn to get along, even to be kind and friendly to each other.… (meer)

Published in 1955, long out of print, and quite difficult to obtain, this novel for young readers relates the story of Anna Schoop, a ten-year-old Dutch immigrant girl whose creation of a garden in the inner court behind a tenement in New York City changes the lives of all the residents and neighbors.

When Anna and her older sister Gerta arrive at Ellis Island, they are dismayed that Uncle Hans is not there to meet them as planned, but they soon find a home with the young Dutch couple they met on the voyage over. While Gerta worries about finding Uncle Hans and getting a job, Anna sets out to become better acquainted with her new neighbors. These include the Nolans, a loud and boisterous Irish family; the Lees, a Chinese family who run the local laundry; the Spivaks, whose daughter Mary is a crippled survivor of Polio; the Spinellis, with an accordion-playing father; and the Witzskys, whose son Sam raises pigeons on the roof. Dismayed at the ethnic tensions between these and other residents, Anna befriends everyone, eventually involving them all in her project to clean up the trash-strewn courtyard behind the building and turn it into a beautiful garden for all. As a year passes, more and more people become involved, and previously unacquainted neighbors get to know one another, developing a sense of community...

I found this book at a public library sale, and being interested in older children's books, decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. Although the book does employ some ethnic stereotypes, it also portrays all of its characters as fully human - being both full of error and able to learn from and transcend that error. The message that diversity can be a source of strength, rather than a source of dissension seems quite progressive for the 1950s, although I was disappointed that there were no African-American or Latino characters (Maybe I'm hoping for too much?).

While the author's assumption that a communal garden could solve a myriad of social problems might seem overly optimistic to the current-day reader, her narrative also manages to convince us that it is a good place to start. Apart from the social issues it addresses, this book's well written story and interesting characters make it an entertaining read - a sort of modern-day, urban variant of The Secret Garden.

Illustrated in black and white by Kathleen Voute.… (meer)