One of the most wise and loving classics of children's fiction
I worry that Francie, the beloved twelve-year-old protagonist of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, will get mad at me if I give out any information about her story's plot or characters. Francie's a big reader — right up there with Little Women's Jo March as one of the classic book lovers of children's fiction — and would take the idea of not spoiling a plot very seriously.

So here's what I am able to say, without violating the joy of hearing this work for the first time: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn tells the story of Francie Nolan, a poor Irish-American girl growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the turn of the twentieth century. Her mother works as a janitor, her father is a sometimes-employed singer (and drinker), and her brother is a good-hearted scamp. Francie is too intelligent for her environment and era. Sitting out on her fire escape to evade the summer heat, reading library books, Francie dreams of a greater life than her circumstances immediately allow. Whether her dreams come true is less important than Smith's detailed depiction of Francie's world: the penny candy store where the girl picks out her rare treats, the subway rides she takes with a hatpin in hand to ward off molesters, he summer picnic that becomes one of her most cherished memories of her father. Narrator Kate Burton is perfect; she sounds like the wryly smart, thoughtful woman I always knew Francie would become.