Growing Home

Readers are swept into Talia's world as she and her emotionally unstable mother arrive in the town of El Chorro, dreaming of a chance to get "back on their feet" and find a real home. But when her mother falls into a debilitating depression, Talia is left to explore on her own and discovers a flourishing community garden at the edge of town. In the following months, as she and her mother maneuver through a world of homeless shelters, case workers, and psychiatric diagnoses, the garden becomes a lifeline and place of solace for them. There, Talia befriends a diverse cast of characters: the children of migrant farmworkers, second-generation Filipina women growing traditional foods for market, and an elderly Japanese herbalist with a lifetime of wisdom to share. But when their makeshift Eden is threatened by urban development, the gardeners must organize and fight to protect their land. With Mom slipping back into depression and the future more uncertain than ever, it's suddenly up to Talia to embark on a wild, last-minute scheme to save something precious to her This novel is about the search for home, and the possibility of finding it in unexpected places. Growing Home vividly portrays the realities of social inequality, the importance of community, the healing effects of nature, and the power of speaking from one's heart.