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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 Coulter
From AudioFile
Anyone who missed reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or who wants to know this moving story again should run, not walk, to the nearest source of this outstanding audiobook. The novel richly merits its status as a "classic." Francie, the protagonist, grows up in the slums of Brooklyn during the early part of the twentieth century, and life treats her badly. Less favored in her dysfunctional family than her brother, forced to leave school early, maltreated by fate and by people--she plunges forward, indomitable, courageous. What makes the listening experience so fine is the compelling and convincing narration by Bernadette Dunne, who not only has Francie down pat, but also captures the assorted other characters. She feels Francie's pain at the setbacks, her joy at the triumphs. And, as Francie matures, so does Dunne's presentation. Clearly Dunne was committed to creating something fine and, like Francie herself, she has. T.H. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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