A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by BETTY SMITH

A wonderfully written book, in which you can know Brooklyn in the early Twentieth Century from an interpretation of the little girl.

The Francie Nolan is a really interesting person. She adores her father, despite he is addicted to alcohol for many years. Besides her father, she describes her very strong mother and brother too.

Francie Nolan describes her life, her quest for knowledge in a warm form. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the book, that’s easy to read, it is funny and thoughtful, sometimes it is sad and sometimes you want to laugh with the little Francie. If you watched A Tree Grows in Brooklyn movie, filmed in 1954 by Elia Kazan, likely you will be disappointed with it. It is not so deep and bright as the book is.

After reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn you will get an accurate picture of Brooklyn's life between 1900 and 1920. Everything is described there in great detail: the housing situation, the finances, the set of values of urban citizens, the life itself...

This book is recommended for all children. They will learn so much after reading it. They will know that is not fair sometimes. That it can be really hard and many people can suffer. You may be a good person, you may study well, tell no lies, but your parent can love your younger brother more even if he really does bad things.