A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith

This book has been on my to-read list for awhile, but then I found out that my friend Linda was the model for the book cover back when she was 8 and growing up in Brooklyn (that's her on the left!) - and it made me even more excited to find out what this book was all about. This is the coming of age story of Francie Nolan - an impoverished Irish-American in Brooklyn pre-WWI. Her father, though doting, is an insufferable alcoholic and her mother is a hardworking janitor who just wants a better life for her children. Coming right off of Angela's Ashes, many of the topics were a bit too similar and I kept getting the characters confused. But, mostly I enjoyed learning about the world Francie creates for herself: how she takes care of her younger brother Neely, how she struggles to get noticed by the world, and how she figures out how to make something of herself. There are some colorful characters in this book - including Francie's father and her brash and scandalous Aunt Sissy. The years pass a little too quickly at the end, but overall this is a marvelous story about growing up - from the very realistic perspective of a young girl.