FREE A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN PDF Betty Smith | 496 pages | 17 Sep 1992 | Cornerstone | 9780099427575 | English | London, United Kingdom A Tree Grows In Brooklyn By Betty Smith : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Sign in with Facebook Sign in options. Join Goodreads. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. I'd say it, too. But I know it's not true. Oh, youll be happy again, never fear. But you won't forget. Every time you fall in love it will be because something in the man reminds you of him. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere - be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack A Tree Grows in Brooklyn intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived. Yet, what little things can make it up; a place of shelter when it rains - a cup of strong hot coffee when you're blue; for a man, a cigarette for contentment; a book to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn when you're alone - just to be with someone you love. Those things make happiness. She was used to walking alone and to being considered 'different. She was the books she read in the library. She was the flower in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn brown bowl. Part of her life was made from the tree growing rankly in the yard. She was the bitter quarrels she had with her brother whom she loved dearly. She was Katie's secret, despairing weeping. She was the shame of her father stumbling home drunk. She was all of these things and of something more It was what God or whatever is His equivalent puts into each soul that is given life - the one different A Tree Grows in Brooklyn such as that which makes no two fingerprints on the face of the earth alike. Life's too short. If you ever find a man you love, don't waste time hanging your head and simpering. Go right up to him and say, 'I love you. How about getting married? Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It's growing out of sour earth. And it's strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way. The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary that she believe. She must start out by believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination. I, myself, even in this day and at my age, have great need of recalling the miraculous lives of the Saints and the great miracles that have come to pass on earth. Only by having these things in my mind can I live beyond what I have to live for. At least she knows she's living. Yet its cost is nothing. But because there are so many, you just can't see how beautiful it really A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I need A Tree Grows in Brooklyn hold somebody close. And I need more than this holding. I need someone to understand how I feel at a A Tree Grows in Brooklyn like now. And the understanding must be part of the holding. A story was something you made up out of something that might have happened. Only you didn't tell it like it was, you told it like you thought it should have been. It makes a person rich in character. Maybe better. When there wasn't enough food in the house you pretended that you weren't hungry so they could have more. In the cold of a winter's night you got up and put your blanket on their bed so they wouldn't be cold. You'd kill anyone who tried to harm them - I tried my best to kill that man in the hallway. Then one sunny day, they walk out in all innocence and they walk right into the grief that you'd give your life to spare them from. Having risen above his environment, he can forget it; or, he can rise above it and never forget it and keep compassion and understanding in his heart for those he has left behind him in the cruel upclimb. The nurse had chosen the forgetting way. Yet, as she stood there, she knew that years later she would be haunted by the sorrow in the face of that starveling child and that she would wish bitterly that she had said a comforting word then and done something towards the saving of her immortal soul. She had the knowledge that she was small but she lacked the courage to be otherwise. Thus their suffering was wasted. There are just a lot of people that are unlucky. Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith Skip to Content. Teaches about life in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY in the early 20 th century, including the role of women in society and the effect of war on a country. While dealing with serious subjects such as alcoholism, pre-marital sex, and gambling, the Nolan family displays resilience, strength, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn the ability to overcome obstacles. Francie is a smart, thoughtful girl who loves learning and school. She works hard to ensure she can continue her education. She takes care of her family, including her brother and sick father. Francie's mother shows value of hard work and sacrifice for her family. A man molests and kills a 7-year-old girl in Francie's neighborhood. The man then tries to molest another girl in an intense and vividly depicted scene. A man is shot in the stomach A Tree Grows in Brooklyn a A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. A man dies of alcoholism. A school teacher hits boys on their naked buttocks and hits girls over their dresses. A woman is stoned by other women in the neighborhood. Mentions of sex are mostly innocent and nondescript. Francie's aunt, Sissy, is promiscuous which hurts her reputation within Williamsburg. When Francie's older, she contemplates having sex with a man she loves before he goes off to war. Francie has a frank conversation with her mother about having sex before marriage in which her mother does not condone A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but admits that having sex when in love, no matter when, is beautiful. Men and women drink and smoke heavily in Williamsburg. Francie's father is an alcoholic and is drunk numerous times. The book shows the devastating effects of alcohol and makes Francie contemplate her future relationship with alcohol. Parents and caregivers: Set limits for violence and more with Plus. Parents need to know that A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant literary classic that tells the story of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Nolan as she grows up in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, from to The novel brings to life the world in which Francie lives, yet portrays experiences that kids of any era can relate to -- navigating sibling relationships, making new friends, and discovering first love. It also deals with more serious subjects, such as Francie's father's alcoholism, the death of a loved one, an attempted molestation, and premarital sex causing a ruined reputation. Yet, these issues are seen through the eyes of an innocent young girl and presented in an emotionally authentic way. Join now. Add your rating See all 6 parent reviews. Add your rating See all 6 kid reviews. Francie Nolan is a smart, astute, imaginative girl who loves reading. She lives in the slums of Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, where her mother, Katie, works as a cleaning lady and her father, Johnny, holds unsteady jobs due to his alcoholism. Francie spends much of her day with her younger brother, Neeley, or reading books. She loves school and learning, and fears that her family may not be able to afford to continue sending her to school. The novel follows Francie from age 11 until she's a young woman with a job. As she grows up, Francie and her family struggle to make ends meet and often go to bed hungry. Yet, she loves her family, especially her often- singing father and her aunts, who have their own sordid lives, and experiences first love. While the unfolding plot has ups, downs, twists, and turns, Francie's introspective, wise perspective makes this work the honest novel that it is.