Breakfast Book Club

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Eola Road Branch's monthly book discussion. This month's selection: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Join us for Eola Road Branch's Breakfast Book Club. We read a variety of fiction titles, mainly historical fiction, and meet once a month for a fun discussion. Contact discussion leader Yiota Piraino at 630-264-4262 or stop by Eola Road Branch's 2nd floor reference desk to pick up a copy. No registration required.

Book Description:

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century.

From the moment she entered the world, Francie needed to be made of stern stuff, for the often harsh life of Williamsburg demanded fortitude, precocity, and strength of spirit. Often scorned by neighbors for her family’s erratic and eccentric behavior—such as her father Johnny’s taste for alcohol and Aunt Sissy’s habit of marrying serially without the formality of divorce—no one, least of all Francie, could say that the Nolans’ life lacked drama. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the Nolans’ daily experiences are tenderly threaded with family connectedness and raw with honesty. Betty Smith has, in the pages of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, captured the joys of humble Williamsburg life-from “junk day” on Saturdays, when the children of Francie’s neighborhood traded their weekly take for pennies, to the special excitement of holidays, bringing cause for celebration and revelry. Betty Smith has artfully caught this sense of exciting life in a novel of childhood, replete with incredibly rich moments of universal experiences—a truly remarkable achievement for any writer (Amazon).

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