"Dear God, let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry...have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well-dressed. Let me be sincere- be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost."

"Don't say that. It's not better to die. W More...

{Yup, I'm reading it AGAIN.}

I sob, and I mean sob, every time I read this book. It's such a simple story--Francie Nolan is a smart little girl who's trying to find beauty in her sometimes ugly, always poverty-stricken life. Her adored father is wonderful, but too plagued by his own demons to support his family. Her mother loves her children fiercely but is often harsh because she thinks it's her job to keep them grounded in reality (oh, and she seems to love Francie's brother more). Her aunt is More...

Betty Smith's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" has been passed down through at least three or four generations and is highly regarded as a classic novel perfect for any young adult bent on entering adulthood and escaping from the gaping clutches of a complicated childhood.
While it was not for those reasons that I first picked up "Brooklyn," I came to regard it as one of the finest books that I had ever read. At first glance, it is a very deceitful book: short; words spaced nicely apart; and, a largis More...

Well, the tree grows very slowly and with exhaustive detail.

Couldn't get through this one. Actually, that's not entirely true. I could have. And I don't mean that in the way of a mountain climber who just couldn't make it to the top and then warps reality by looking back at it. No, it's more like "couldn't" as in "I couldn't eat another hashbrown from my McDonald's breakfast." Sure, I COULD have. It just didn't seem worth the pain.

I get why this book is a classic, I think. My brother and I argue More...

It is a tribute to Jeanette Walls that I could not get through this book without comparing it dozens of times to The Glass Castle, with The Glass Castle coming off as its genius granddaughter or fashionable little sister. I probably should have read this first, as a child or teenager, but it’s too late for that now. No regrets! I could not help wondering why Betty Smith wrote this story as fiction rather than memoir, and the fact of it being fiction made me notice a lack of complexity in Francie More...

Francie stood on tiptoe and stretched her arms wide. "Oh, I want to hold it all!" she cried. "I want to hold the way the night is - cold without wind. And the way the stars are so near and shiny. I want to hold all of it tight until it hollers out, 'Let me go! Let me go!'"

The title of this novel refers to a tree that grows persistently up through the concrete and harsh conditions of a poor tenement neighborhood in early 1900s Brooklyn. But it is also a metaphor for the novel's protagonist, Franc More...

Another American classic finally read. I'm very glad to have finally experienced this book. It was really more than I expected, a wonderful story of a young girl growing up in early twentieth century Brooklyn with her parents and brother. The life was hard with family foremost but not perfect. The details were perfect, from the multiple uses for bread to stretch out meals to details from school experiences to conversations between mother and daughter revealing depths of honesty and past despair. More...

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is my absolute favorite book of all time.

While the story is set at the turn of the century (1902-1919) and contains many historical elements that may feel alien to the modern reader, the message that is subtly and intricately woven into the fabric of the story is one that I feel not only transcends the ages, but also one with which many of us can identify.

The protagonist, Francie, and her family represent the sort of wonderfully complex characters who come alive in the r More...

Recommended to me by the same person who recommended the Helen Forrester books. I thought of this book (early 20th C), as a well-crafted, character-driven novel. It is a very moving coming-of-age novel, and has been "Selected as one of the books of the Century by the New York Public Library."

As Anna Quindlen quoted at the end of her forward: Francie does not say "good-bye" to the tenements for the tragedies but to the girl she once was, the illusions she had, the life she once led.

Originally pri More...

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is another classic that I've always heard about, but never read - until now! And it's another one that I wish I had read sooner! If someone told me that this was an autobiography, I would believe it. It was extremely believable and well-written. Betty Smith completely drew me into Francie Nolan's world. I feel like I was there and lived that life with her - which is amazing because my life and experiences are very different from Francie's world as a poor young girl growi More...

a combination of charlotte bronte, charles dickens, and theodore dreiser...or any one of the american realists...
suffers a bit from the pauper syndrome, for some reason this affliction only effected books written from say 1800 to 1940...
also a variation on the ordeal novel...(see comments on dave egger's 'what is the what')...
around 200 pages in and francie is more of a figure of pain and sorrow than a character i feel i really know...she feels like a mop that smith is using to soak up all the l More...

I felt like the last person in the world to have read this book, and based on what everyone has said about it over the years, I expected this to be the next best thing after the Crispy Potato Soft Taco at Taco Bell. But as I read the first 200 pages, I thought everyone was out of their freaking minds. This, I thought, is what everyone has been raving about for as long as I can remember? I even did a quick peek at my GR friends list - you people love this book. I couldn't figure out why.

It starte More...

I think my mom once said that this was her favorite book, and yet somehow I hadn’t read it until now. In my early teens, I remember coming across a paperback edition that had been lying around the house … and not making it past the first couple pages. The writing was way over my head (which had been addled by too much fluff reading of Baby-sitters Club, probably).

It’s probably for the best, though, for while this book centers around the young girl Francie Nolan, this coming-of-age story is appro More...

I read A Tree Grows In Brooklyn when I was about fourteen years of age. I've not reread it since, so this is more of a review of the value of the long lasting impression it made on me in my formative years (although I believe all of my years are formative ones).

Betty Smith's novel is in some ways autobiographical. If not, there are parallels in a cracked two-way mirror kinda way. I imagine the author would peer through the holes onto the other side and recognize Betty Smith.

There are parts of th More...

I'm not sure why I didn't read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn sooner, but I do know that it has been firmly established as one of my Favorite Books of ALL TIME.

Betty Smith's novel is an American classic, the coming-of-age story of a young girl, the daughter of poor Irish immigrants, in Brooklyn at the turn of the century. Francie is a bright girl, surrounded by ugliness and yet finding so much beauty in it all. She especially finds it in books, which she devours passionately, and in the love beneath More...

The last book I read in 2008, and what a book! The prose is heartbreakingly beautiful, and the story is very sad -- but still hopeful and uplifting. There is a nice mixture of humor and love as well and it made me nostalgic for a time and place I've never experienced. I can't think of a coming of age book that has touched me this much, I seriously burst into tears three or four times while reading it. I wonder if I would have felt differently if I'd read it in school, or when I was the same age More...

I ended up loving this story. I have to admit, it was a bit slow getting into the book, but as I got to know the characters they grew on me and I became more and more interested in their lives. I cared what happened to them! Francie is one of the great (young) women in literature. All the women in this book are strong, but she shines. The men, although endearing in some cases, seem to falter and fall short of their potential(s).

So what happens in the book? Just life. If you're looking for fast- More...

This is one of those books I wasn't sure I would like until I got all the way to the end. I came to love Francie Nolan early in the story and wanted so much for her to fulfill the promise to BE the heroine; which she does. That alone makes this a book to read and re-read. Francie's parents, Katie and Johnny Nolan are captivating and complex in that they each contain admirable traits as well as crippling faults.

Initial exposure to the crushing poverty in which Francie lives is disturbing, and gen More...

Warning, contains spoilers.



My Dad's birthday is March 17. Once again, I found myself drawn to listening to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn again just before his birthday. It seems to be an emotional habit. Once again I am joined to my fictional kindred Francie Nolan. I am not like her in every way, but the parallels continue to astonish me. How did Betty Smith know?

Francie and Kelley:
Irish Catholic charming musical handsome daddy
Alcoholic daddy— mine had 3 DUIs
Dad who took temp work and had a harder an More...

I didn't think I was going to like this book. Not before I read it, but as I was reading it. Although the story was interesting and somewhat engaging, I thought the writing was a little one-dimensional, and honestly, a little flat. Some of the characters seemed to fit too neatly into their little boxes...the prim piano teacher, the penny-pinching butchers and shop-keepers, the tough but kind cops.

But, then as I got toward the end, and Francie began to work a real job and help support her mother, More...

I remembering reading this book in--it was probably the fifth grade-- for Book-It, a program that encouraged reading in elementary schools by rewarding kids with Pizza Hut pan pizza. I was a fat kid and, like most kids, fat or otherwise, I liked pizza (it just so happened I could typically down a few more slices then the average adolescent). Thus, the affair with books and compulsion to collect as many stars on my Book-it pin as possible began.

I remember this book in particular as one of the bo More...

i really loved this book; it reminded me of a Frank Capra movie. it seemed like an impossibly crisp recording of how things were in the early 1900s re: american poverty and bigoted social structures especially. Like a Frank Capra movie, though, the story is woven with an underlying optimism despite some of its dark themes. I felt like I had a better understanding of this time period and history of Brooklyn from reading this book, but also: can you imagine a time when people sang so frequently, a More...

Exquisite story, rich and well developed characters, wonderfully defined settings that seemed like a painting. This is a wonderful novel that tells the story of Francine Nolan and her family as it was in 1916. The story lasts until Francine is 17 and describes growing up in Brooklyn during the great depression. Although this should have been painful to describe, the author almost reminisces almost pleasantly about collecting aluminum foil for the junk man and having only bread and hot coffee for More...

Usually I find books or movies that merely portray a slice of life to be boring. I expect a little more (heartwarmth, love, interesting characters or etc.) from my entertainment. So I went back and forth between wondering the point of describing a weeks worth of bread meals and loving this book. Then I realized what "extra thing" this book has, it's truth. There is so much truth to this book. Some parts are dull and some parts are deep, and I think everyone can relate to the needs and wants of t More...

Although I read this many years ago, I have agreed with my ESL student that this would be enjoyable reading as our next project. I hope that we can finish this. It is long !

Our progress has been slow, in part because of unexpected interruptions. We have agreed that we will have to abandon this lovely book becase of its length and intervening personal matters.

NOTE: This was required reading for school i did not choose this book.
FTC Disclaimer: I purchased this book.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn was written by Betty Smith and was also turned into a movie. This novel tells the story of the Nolan's. The Nolan's are a poor family living in Brooklyn. The story is mainly told through protagonist's Francie's point of view. They are living during the early 1900's in poverty. When the book starts she is 11 years old. By time the book concludes she is 17.

When the More...

This book was beautifully written. It was uplifting and entertaining. It was also deep and made me think a lot. The main character, Francie, was an extraordinary young girl but also believable. I really enjoyed this book.

A great novel....wonderful writing, great insight into characters. No surprise at all that it has a loyal following for many, many years.

Update: just finished last night and my impression remains the same. Wonderful novel.

Loved this book and so glad I read it at the prompting of a book club I'm in. Beautifully written and so easy to fall into. This book is about life told through an observant young (growing) girl's eyes. It's a period piece,too. It's early 1900s Brooklyn reflected through the scope of one family's hardships and love. Honestly, it's a book about everything and nothing all at the same time. There's no great heroic journey or traditional climactic story arc. There is just life, in honest scenarios a More...

I really liked this book, it was full of love, betrayal, sadness, hope and determination. The book is about a young girl named Francie Nolan who grows up in a poor section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She is raised by her hardworking mother, Katie who favors her son, Neely more than her first born, Francie. Her father is a charming, young fellow who tends to drink a little more than he should. Francie's family and friends are wonderful characters who make this book even more interesting. Francie i More...