Sprouted

Death by Veggies #2

by Alex Westhaven

How does your garden grow? Amelia has a secret for growing the prettiest flowers and the biggest veggies, but she's getting older. Will her secret be lost before she finds someone who can handle the intricate nature of her legacy?

44 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2013

Reviews

[Harold Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came to me as a Good Reads Giveaway.

Remember chia pets?

Sure you do. Wee terra cotta critters. You’d dampen their porous surfaces, wait overnight, and next morning see squiggly green shoots sprouting from the pet-shaped pottery like band new hair curling up from a bald human noggin.

In "Sprouted" Amelia has devised a crackerjack recycling program that lifts organic gardening to a macabre level, and, as a result, her roses are remarkably beautiful.

Hold the thought.

There’s a Tom Waits song called “What’s He Building In There?” in which there is some mystery about what’s being constructed inside a house, considering the unexplained, secretive noises a neighbor hears though the house’s walls.

With a little twist, you might ask similar questions regarding Amelia’s attention to the recycling experiments she’s conducting inside her garden shed.

What’s she doing in there? What’s she actually doing when she pours a thick concoction into a container and watches it run down a feeding tube into the subjects of her garden brigade? Why does Amelia add garlic to the mix?

Never fear…well, maybe fear a smidgen…"Sprouted" answers all questions about Amelia.

Speaking of fear, Amelia is afraid she might never find a suitable apprentice and will die — oh, she is an old woman, after all — with her gardening experiments unfinished.

However, a young girl named Andrea shows up one day and Amelia thinks she just might fit the apprentice bill, so to speak.

Maybe Andrea does fit the bill.

Read "Sprouted" and find out.

"Sprouted" is a very short book. It has only 37 pages. Essentially, it’s an attractively bound short story, suitable for sticking in your jacket pocket to read while waiting your turn in the dentist’s chair, or whatever.

It answers those questions about Amelia.

What's more, it will most likely warp your ideas about chia pets and give you a whole new perspective on bald-headed humans.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this, having been lucky enough to win a signed copy through Goodreads First Reads. It's short but packs in a lot of story. You're left to think about how Amelia's interest and knowledge in the experiments started, how her contacts were gained and so on, which adds to the intrigue. It's a sad tale, but a satisfying one. Recommended.

[Dina Coutu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, sad, but good.