false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166668598m/14891.jpg 14891 50 Francie Nolan, avid reader, penny-candy connoisseur, and adroit observer of human nature, has much to ponder in colorful, turn-of-the-century Brooklyn. She grows up with a sweet, tragic father, a severely realistic mother, and an aunt who gives her love too freely--to men, and to a brother who will always be the favored child. Francie learns early the meaning of hunger and the value of a penny. She is her father's child--romantic and hungry for beauty. But she is her mother's child, too--deeply practical and in constant need of truth. Like the Tree of Heaven that grows out of cement or through cellar gratings, resourceful Francie struggles against all odds to survive and thrive. 833257 1943 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn total:32037|5:14872|4:11407|3:4687|2:861|1:236| 32037 135901 44867 4169 5 16 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Aug 17 20:34:04 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 17 22:46:15 -0700 2007 While it was not...more...]]> 5 11 false false Mon Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 16 09:36:58 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 04 22:00:38 -0700 2008 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!'"
...more...]]> 5 12 false false Wed Jul 11 07:40:53 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 12 09:27:37 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 9 false false Tue May 08 15:43:35 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 30 21:54:31 -0700 2008
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 dem...more...]]> 5 7 false false Sat Nov 15 16:42:40 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 15 17:02:12 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 6 false false Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Aug 23 10:11:31 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 15 17:02:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 4 false false Sun Apr 27 17:45:39 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 25 19:39:14 -0800 2008 Sun Apr 27 17:45:27 -0700 2008 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 comment...more...]]> 5 4 false false Wed Mar 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 31 13:16:22 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 20 14:20:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed Dec 31 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 14:48:07 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 01 20:16:53 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed Dec 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Sep 26 20:17:42 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 10 21:35:58 -0800 2008 once more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Tue Aug 05 04:56:51 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 06:42:45 -0700 2008 3 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...more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu May 01 18:01:49 -0700 2008 Sun May 25 11:27:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Mar 22 14:31:24 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 08:56:18 -0700 2008


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 h...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 02 01:13:42 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 02 01:13:42 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Feb 01 11:32:57 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 01 11:51:24 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Wed Apr 09 16:24:27 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 16:30:46 -0700 2008 4 2 false false Thu Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 10 12:38:21 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 16 17:38:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false true Sat Sep 13 06:22:20 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 21 06:03:49 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Jul 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 21:04:34 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 28 12:50:23 -0700 2008
Overall, I liked it. It strikes me as being a very "old-fashioned" book, and I can't quite put my finger on why/how. It's not like reading Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle, w...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Jan 31 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jul 14 21:25:34 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 31 14:42:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=14891