A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Curriculum Unit (Novel Series) Spiral-bound – Teacher's Edition, January 1, 1993

Mary Frances Nolan holds both our hands and our hearts, as she leads us through her childhood, beginning in 1900, on the impoverished streets of Brooklyn, New York. As innocent, illiterate children, Francie and her brother, Nealie, rise far above their surroundings, as they grow and flourish despite struggle. They do this with the help of their mother, Katie Nolan,their father, Johnny Nolan, and the Rommely sisters. Regardless of the hardships of poverty, shame, rape, and lack of education, Francie proves herself strong, and tough enough to eventually reach her dreams.In the novel, a tree is placed to in the middle of Francie's tiny yard, acting as a significant symbol of inspiration and a hope to her, as well as her neighbors. They refer to it as the "Tree of Heaven". "The only tree in Francie's yard was neither a pine nor a hemlock. It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looked like a lot of open umbrellas... No matter where its seed fell, it made a tree which struggled to reach the sky. It grew in boarded-up lots and neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenements district... That was the kind of tree it was. It liked poor people." Like Francie, the tree shows vigor for life within the poor neighborhood.Based around the author's own life experiences, Betty Smith raises the characters to life as she describes a lifestyle and ambitions that are both Francie's and reminiscent of her own. Throughout the novel, Smith develops a setting and characters that reflect her accurate, personal knowledge of life in Brooklyn in the early 1900's.This book is outstanding and inspiring. It allowed me to enter into a child's head and her world as she was grow up, and experience her thoughts firsthand. As I read, I felt as if I was getting to know a childhood friend, with weaknesses, struggles, hopes and dreams. Francie's journey through her obstacles in life gave me inspiration to work hard in all aspects of my own life, in order to achieve my goals.

This was the first adult book that I read when I was just elevenyears old, the same age as Francie, the heroine of the book. Iwas intrigued because we were the same age. I remember sitting ina rocking chair on my grandfather's country home front porch. Myfeet, clad in moccasins, were propped up on the porch railing andI fell, permanently, in love with all of the characters.This book, the original 1943 version, was in my home library allof my growing-up years. Periodically, I would take it out of thebookcase and re-read it. When my mother sold our house, she,inadverdently, gave this and many other prized books to thelocal hospital. I tried to recover it, but it and the othershad been confiscated by patients. Later, when I was "grownand gone" out on my own, with a household and children of myown, I bought my own copy. However, regretfully, it was nota 1943 version.Over the years, as an adult, I have re-read this book atleast once a year, and sometimes more, especially if Ihappened to be in a sentimental, nostalgic, yearning mood.Everytime I read it, I learn something new about life andhuman nature. I have had the "Ah-Ha" effect with the lightbulb going off in my mind many times.It is my sincere belief that this book ought to be requiredreading for every student, beginning at age eleven, andthen required re-reading every few years until high schoolgraduation.Time does not allow me to delve into all of the life lessonsthat I have learned from this book. However, I would like todo so in a future further review. OPRAH WYNFREY AND I SHARE THESAME FEELING OF LOVE FOR THIS BOOK. IT IS ON HER LIST OF MOSTFAVORITE BOOKS, AS IT IS MINE.

Adolescence is a difficult time of life, but at the turn of the last century, young women faced much bigger problems than growing up. This notion was eloquently conveyed in Betty Smith's novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. In this novel, Francie Nolan, the protagonist, grew up in the early 1900s, the early Industrial age. Her father was a waiter, who suffered from drinking problems, and her mother was a janitress. They lived in a tenement house in Brooklyn, New York. Francie's mother and father had started out as a poor, newly-wed couple who, after little more than a year of marriage, found themselves laden with a sickly new daughter - Francie. Francie grew up, experiencing the hardships of a poor family, and is forced after grade school to get a job to help support the family instead of going to high school. Reading was her way of getting away from the problems in her troublesome life. The writing style of Betty Smith is authentic and sentimental. She is honest in her descriptions and tells both the positive and negative aspects about urban life in the early 1900s. She is clear and concise in her characterizations. The title of the book comes from a metaphor that she surprises the reader with, when neighbors talk to Katie Nolan, Francie's mother, about Francie, her sickly baby. They tell Katie that it would be better if Francie died. " Katie held her baby tightly. ` It's not better to die. Who wants to die? Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It's growing out of sour earth. And it's strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way. (Page 93)'" Katie Nolan has a strong will to keep Francie alive. Francie grows up much like the tree in her family's backyard in Brooklyn. She seldom got enough to eat, and experienced a hard childhood, but she survived, just like the tree growing out of the grating in Brooklyn. Before Francie attended grade school, she would walk to the library every day and check out a book. She would read one book a day, planning to read every book in the world. When she was reading, Francie would forget about the hardships of her life, and think about the lives of the characters in the books that she read. If one has the will and confidence to persevere, like Francie Nolan, one will succeed in life. Francie suffered the hardships of her young adolescence in working in a range of jobs, but her real dream was to go to high school and then on to college. At the end of the novel, Francie's hard work is awarded, as the family is finally able to afford for Francie to attend high school. This classic tale of a struggling family in Brooklyn, New York in the early Industrial Age is enhanced by Betty Smith's writing style, and truly tells the story of the problems that working class families were faced with at the turn of 20th century.