Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood

When “Mr. Tony” Hillery visits Harlem’s Public School 175, he notices from the school window a vacant, littered lot in the otherwise bustling neighborhood. Nevaeh, a student at the school, has dubbed the lot the “haunted garden,” but Mr. Tony invites her, her classmates, and the community to help him clean it up and convert it to a community garden. Though Nevaeh’s initial plant withers and dies, Mr. Tony encouragingly says, “We’ll try again.” In the end, the garden is so successful that the students are able to take home fresh grown fruits and vegetables to their families, and the garden spreads from one location to over ten plots throughout Harlem. An Author’s Note shares a lot of the impressive details about author “Mr. Tony” Hillery’s actual development of the Harlem Grown gardens, which provide local kids an alternative to the myriad of unhealthy food options in their community as well as a good outlet for their abundant energy. Hartland’s gouache illustrations are fluid and particularly excellent in portraying the city landscape—incorporating many details those familiar with Harlem’s rich culture and history will appreciate, like the Apollo Theater—and depicting the garden’s transformation from barren lot to beautiful, thriving garden that inspires life and light throughout the entire neighborhood.