Rating: 
Summary: A Complete Forgery
Review: For the life I don't know how Betty Smith managed to write my life decades before I was born. I too, am a Brooklyn native and I truly believe Smith has a amazing style of writing. Like Francie, I'm the older daughter, and I have a younger brother close in age. If I were to describe all the similarities between Francie's life and mine, I would never finished. I recommend this novel whole-heartedly. Every Brooklynite should read this. Though the story takes place in an entirely different era, Smith evokes a wave of nostalgia to all who understand the appeal of Brooklyn.
Rating:
Summary: An Extremely Good Read
Review: I have always wanted to read this book, and when I went into my ninth grade honors English class this year and saw it on the reading list, I couldn't wait to start it. I never had read it before because it had always seemed too long. How wrong I was! I couldn't put the book down, and when I finished, I yearned to know more about Francie. The story is very believable, as I am sure that Ms. Smith experienced some of the same hardships that Francie underwent. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is an excellent book to read for school, and it is probably on most reading lists. The theme is very prevalent throughout the novel, and there are good examples of figurative language, and other aspects that are discussed in the classroom. I think that in order to truly understand the book, the reader must be at least eleven years old. However, I do feel that this can be enjoyed by a younger child, even if the exact meaning is not understood. Francie sets a good example for everyone in her ability to overcome obstacles and reach her goals. This is a timeless classic that I'm sure will be enjoyed for years to come!
Rating:
Summary: a splendid treasure; even non-Brooklynites will love it
Review: I am a Brooklyn native, with my father being brought up in the same neighborhood (Williamsburg) described so vividly in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. My father (deceased) never spoke much of his childhood, probably wanting to avoid telling me of the squalor. But as Betty Smith proves, one person's "slum" is another person's "home". A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the (hard-to-believe-it's-fiction) story of a teenage girl, Francie, being raised in rather rough conditions during the 1910s. Her life, as viewed from 30,000 feet, is not terribly exciting. Yet it is her mind, her curiousity, her compassion, and her soul which is so well projected by Betty Smith. I feel that Francie and her family are, well, people *I KNOW*. A brilliant novel. My only 'objection' to the novel is that it is targetted to young adults, which might limit its overall popularity (..the book has only been recently reprinted here in the UK). I believe the strong emotive element of this novel to be a bit too ... intense for folks under, say, eighteen. Young adults might actually find A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to be too sentimental.
Rating:
Summary: Soul Gripping Story
Review: This is an incredibly amazing novel...which i believe is actually an autobiography of the author. In "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn," the reader is taken through an incredible path of the main character, Francie Nolan's life. From the death of her father, to her assult in a dark hallway, to this amazing girl supporting herself into college, this book finely illustrates the transition from girl to woman. This story takes the reader back to a childs perspective, and also helps one to remember to take time to appreciate the smaller things in life.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent novel
Review: There have been many memoirs of sad and deprived childhoods on the market lately (most notably "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt, which is very good), but this magnificent novel is far superior to any of them. It is fiction, but it reads like a memoir and is told with an innocence that tugs at your heart. We come to identify very closely with the characters and their deprivations, and rejoice when they do, and sorrow when they do. It paints a picture of poverty in a city that had a booming economy that makes you feel guilty for having a comfortable home with plenty to eat. And yet it does not intend to be a confronting novel - it is easy to read and is truly entertaining and heart warming. It is one of the best books of its type, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn- One in a Million
Review: Throwing meaning into the word "book," Betty Smith writes about hope, fear, happiness and love in the fabulous novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Betty Smith's style of writing is very detailed and her book shows us what literature was made to be. Young Francie deals with deaths, losses, and school. A poor girl, she is captivated by anything. I highly recommend this book for preteens, as not all of the material is appropriate and understandable for young children. Francie, as a young girl deals with much. This will keep anyone reading!
Rating:
Summary: Betty Smith- Author Extraordinare
Review: Betty Smith's heartwarming and at times tear-invoking novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, about Francie Nolan, will keep you up at night saying "Just one more chapter!" Francie is a girl growing up in poverty-filled Brooklyn at the turn of the century, where she considers crossing the bridge into New York City an impossibility. The story follows her through her life, with all the ups and downs included, until she is at the age of twenty and off to college. A wonderful long read, I think that a girl would like it more than a boy would. Some material may be inappropriate, so I recommend an age minimum of 9 or 10. If you like this book, which is almost a sure bet, look for Betty Smith's other book, Joy in the Morning.
Rating:
Summary: A Place and Time, Captured
Review: Author Betty Smith was a one hit wonder. Although she wrote other novels, her work after "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" never came close to capturing the characterizations and sense of time and place exhibited in this fine, even extraordinary, piece of writing that was released in 1943. But so what? Who needs an encore when the first performance has readers standing in the aisles? "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" is as readable today as it was fifty years ago. It has stood the test of time to become one of America's most beloved and enduring novels. The story evolved from Ms. Smith's experiences growing up in Brooklyn in the very early 1900s. Although it is a novel, it's obvious that the core experiences are autobiographical. The main character in the book, Francie Nolan, is Betty Smith. The book carries us through a little more than ten years of life with the poor but proud Nolan family. The Nolans face numerous hardships - the heartbreak of losing a warm-hearted but alcoholic father, the attempted rape of Francie, the shame of being poor - but they are held together by the steely determination of Francie's mother, Katie. There are unique characters, perhaps the most unforgettable is the promiscuous and colorful Aunt Sissy who worked in a condom factory, had the habit of marrying time and time again without getting a divorce, and had ten babies stillborn, until a fake pregnancy brings her first healthy child (how? I won't give that away.) But the book's strongest point is its ability to capture a place and a time: Brooklyn in turn-of-the-century America. Not since Charles Dickens has a writer so skillfully described an era and a physical setting. Betty Smith harpooned with a pen the details and nuances that made Brooklyn the true melting pot of America, a rugged and confused place that bore more genius than anywhere else in the world. Ms. Smith is gone. Her tree is still growing.
Rating:
Summary: you will grow too!
Review: this book is a must read for anyone working with children. both heartwarming and heartbreaking, this compelling novel will encourage empathy in the most indifferent reader.
Rating:
Summary: A Collage of Poverty in Brooklyn
Review: This book wa like reading a collage. Ms. Smith gives the reader many 'snapshots' of what life is like for Francie. We learn about her mother and her father and how Francie is like (and unlike) them. We learn about her setting and how Brooklyn makes her who she is. We learn about how poverty shaped her character. It's really a marvelous book, the kind I read at least twice a year just to releran the lessons it teaches me. What are those lessons? Here are a few: children pay attention to more than we think they do; poor people aren't always lazy; you can love somebody but also occasionally hate them... Bottom line? READ THE BOOK! (Then read it again.)
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