A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -- Betty Smith, Paperback

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie Nolan needed to be made of stern stuff, for growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn, New York demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family's erratic and eccentric behavior--such as her father Johnny's taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy's habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce--no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans' life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the Nolans' daily experiences are raw with honestly and tenderly threaded with family connectedness. Betty Smith has captured the joys of humble Williamsburg life--from "junk day" on Saturdays, when the children traded their weekly take for pennies, to the special excitement of holidays, bringing cause for celebration and revelry. Smith has created a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as deeply resonant moments of universal experience. Here is an American classic that cuts right to the heart of life, hails the New York Times. If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you will deny yourself a rich experience.

Author: Betty Smith
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 05/30/2006
Pages: 528
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.04lbs
Size: 8.29h x 5.51w x 1.49d
ISBN: 9780061120077

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.8
Point Value: 23
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 548 / Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 08/01/2007 pg. 37