#65 IS READING MY FOURTH CLASSIC



A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN



I hope my reading friends Sandra and Kathryn agree that this book is a classic as I read it without any referals. I chose this particular book because I had started to read it at least three times in my life but never went past the first thirty pages. This time I knew I was motivated to complete.



The story is about a family living in Brooklyn New York in the summer of 1912. It is about a girl who is eleven name Francie,her brother Neeley, Mama is Katie, and dad named Johnny.


The story takes this family from 1912 to 1918 and from poverty to middle class. It is a story of how a family lived and survived in this era. My guess is the author Betty Smith is really Francie in the story.



Personally my reading in this era has always been about WW1.
The story ends at age seventeen for Francie as she is about to leave home to attend the University of Michigan. Age seventeen in 1917 would be equivalent to thirty today in wisdom and maturity.

You need to read the book to discover how she went from extreme poverty to college.

One of the many gems of wisdom from the book is that Katie read every day to her children at least one page from the bible and one page from Shakespeare.In the story Francie uses wisdom from the bible and Shakespeare to help her make major decisons.



The reading of at least four classic books per year is something I plan to continue. I have usually read between twelve and eighteen books per year with major interest in sports, history, biographies,court room dramas, christian literature,and positive thinking.



I have found that reading the old classic to add a new dimension to my reading.