A NEW HARVEST

Building community supplants the despair Rodrigo feels after a tornado destroys the ranch and home he inherited from his family.

The disaster leaves him devastated, with only a “little savings” and memories of familial love to sustain him. The soil is as cracked and “dry as his soul.” One morning, he awakens in a sunbeam, remembering his father’s encouragement: “You’ve got to keep going, it’s all we can do!” Inspired, Rodrigo digs, uncovering broken tools and signs of soil life. He buys seeds and new tools. With care, plants grow, reinvigorating Rodrigo with hope. Gradually, visitors drop by, and a sharing economy begins: organic produce in exchange for “a few coins, clothes, or other things to help him out.” As the land’s fertility increases, Rodrigo needs helpers and so begins providing opportunities for others. Poignantly, his generosity begets returns as the farm becomes a community: “a place where people in need came for help: a place where they could heal the wounds that nobody could see.” The farm supplies stores, restaurants, and its own farm stand; proceeds enable Rodrigo and friends to build a house for diverse workers and volunteers: “their own home.” Agreeable illustrations depict Rodrigo as a thin young man with light-brown skin, large ears, short, black hair, and triangular eyebrows. Díez uses blues and greens for crops, sky, and clothing, visually reinforcing themes of community and sustainability. This import from Spain publishes simultaneously in the U.S. with its original, Spanish-language edition.

A feel-good, pay-it-forward story about sowing seeds and harvesting harmony.