Adaptation of Betty Smith's novel about a bright, young girl growing up in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, trying to rise above her tenement existence.

A Study Guide for Betty Smith's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.

In pre-WWI Brooklyn, young Francie struggles to keep her idealism alive in the face of grinding poverty, her father's alcoholism, and the comedies and tragedies of ordinary life.

"When America entered World War II in 1941, [it] faced an enemy that had banned and burned over 100 million books and caused fearful citizens to hide or destroy many more. Outraged librarians launched a campaign to send free books to American troops and gathered 20 million hardcover donations. In 1943, the War Department and the publishing industry stepped in with an extraordinary program: 120 million small, lightweight paperbacks, for troops to carry...

"Set in Brooklyn in the 1920's Tomorrow will be better tells the story of Margy Shannon, a shy, joyfully optimistic young woman just out of school who lives with her parents and witnesses how a lifetime of hard work and poverty has worn them down. Determined not to end up like them, Margy takes refuge in her dreams of a better life. Her goals are simple: to find a husband she loves, have children, and live in a nice home. When she meets Frankie Malone,...

"I re-read these books every year, marveling at how a world so quaint-shirtwaists! Pompadours! Merry Widow hats!-can feature a heroine who is undeniably modern." -Laura Lippman "There are three authors whose body of work I have reread more than once over my adult life: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Maud Hart Lovelace." -Anna Quindlen Often considered Maud Hart Lovelace's best novel, Emily of Deep Valley is now back in print. This gorgeous...

Coming into our hearts first as the young Jane Eyre, twelve-year-old Peggy Ann Garner then proceeded to give an Oscar-winning performance in the 1945 film A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The studio execs were so pleased that they then put her in a movie bought especially for her, Junior Miss. Before long, however, the studio system broke up, throwing many contract players out on the streets. Peggy was among them. She took her talents to the stage and ended...

An Inspiring Approach to Reading From, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to Ramona the Pest to Wringer, here are 100 great books guaranteed to stir the imagination, spark conversation, and lead the way to adventure. In 100 Books for Girls to Grow On, Shireen Dodson, author of the acclaimed The Mother-Daughter Book Club, offers a selection of both new and classic titles. Each book has been handpicked because it is a joy to read, because it inspires mother-daughter...

Visions of Belonging explores how beloved and still-remembered family stories-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I Remember Mama, Gentleman's Agreement, Death of a Salesman, Marty, and A Raisin in the Sun-entered the popular imagination and shaped collective dreams in the postwar years and into the 1950s. These stories helped define widely shared conceptions of who counted as representative Americans and who could be recognized as belonging. The book listens...