description: 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. Betty Smith's poignant, honest novel created a big stir when it was first published over 50 years ago. Her frank writing about life's squalor was alarming to some of the more genteel society, but the book's humor and pathos ensured its place in the realm of classics--and in the hearts of readers, young and old. (Ages 10 and older) --Emilie CoulterThis edition is a masterful rendering read by Anna Fields.
language: English
title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
titlecomplete: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
characters: Mary Rommely, Sissy Rommely, Johnny Nolan, Eva "Evy" Rommely Flittman, Katie Nolan, Thomas Rommely, Francie Nolan, Sergeant McShane, Neeley Nolan
genres: Fiction, Historical, Coming Of Age, Book Club, Young Adult, Literature, Classics, Novels, New York, Historical Fiction
ratings_count: 452734
places: New York (State), The United States of America, New York City, New York, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, Brooklyn, New York City, New York
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Audie Award
category: Classic
publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks