Saturday, June 6, 2009

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn


Title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Author: Betty Smith

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Family Financial Difficulties, Alcoholism, Parent-child relations

Year of Publication: 1998 (reprint; originally 1943)

Publisher & Location: Perennial Classics, New York

ISBN#: 0-06-092988-x

Target Age Level: young adult

# of Pages: 483

Quality of Illustrations: none

Brief Summary: Francie and her family live in the slums of Brooklyn from 1902-1919. Francie tells the story of her families financial difficulties, her fathers alcoholism, her mothers undying love for her father, and her brothers premature coming of age to help their family survive. Ultimately this is a coming of age story.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book: none

Post Reading Activities: There are several passages in this book that explain how Francie feels about being poor and the sacrifices that she and her family had to make to eat daily. These passages could be shared with a child who is experiencing hardship to help them understand and express their feelings. Similar things could be done with the topic of Alcoholism.

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