We are currently reading a Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It got off to a slow start, but honestly, I love this book. I added this picture of an old library postcard because I just liked it and like to think this is like the library that Francie spent so much time in.
The main character, Francie, age 6, is an avid reader (she is reading a book a day in alphabetical order)and incredibly austute in her observations. She describes a friend at confessional with her as "Maudie, who lived a less complicated life, had fewer sins to confess and had gotten out sooner."
Some other favorite lines for me are:
The child must have a secret world in which live things that never were. It is necessary she believe. She must start out believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly to live in she can reach back and live in her imagination.
It was the first of many disillusionments that were to come as her capacity to feel things grew
There had to be dark and muddy waters so that the sun could have something to background its flashing glory.
Discussion Questions:
Q1. Chapter 9 describes the conversation in which Katie's mom, Mary, and Katie are discussing how to keep Francie from living the life of poverty and hardship that they both have. Mary says the secret is reading and the two books that must be read are Shakespeare and the Protestant Bible. The Bible is a given, but if you had to recommend a book (or books)for a parent to read to a child, what would make your "must read list"?
Q2. I cannot NOT ask you guys about Chapter 10 in which Katie says that she will love her son more than her daughter, but must not ever let her know. Help me out here, do you have an insight into this or why she feels this way?
Q3. Chapter 19 starts with Francie's entrance into school. This is going to be another question about Katie Nolan because I am not understanding her yet (or wanting to like her and not being able to is probably more accurate). Katie doesn't want the kids to get lice or sick so she douses Francie's hair with kerosene and makes her wear garlic around her neck (I guess to keep other kids away). It is a heartbreaking description (one of many about Francie's ostracism) that the kids would cut a large wake around her as she walked. Arguably, this might have saved Francie's life since she was already a frail child, but it just hurts to think about a 6 year old being such an outsider. What do you think about this, about Katie's total disregard for the children's feelings (it is a constant theme in the novel so far and I am sure you could come up with many more examples of this)?
5 comments:
i LOVE LOVE LOVE the picture. excellente! i sent you an email about my responses.
q1Reading was a huge part of my childhood. My mom read to us every night...we read many books but some favorites that I will read my children are "Little Women" and the Laura Ingalls Wilder, little house on the prairie series. That just described such a simple time. I will have to find out some good books like that for little boys since those are both kind of girly.
Q2.I agree with Jenn that it is common to favor one child over another-I guess have more of a connection or understand one child better than the next....but I guess I am just stunned by the blatantness of her statement that the minute he was born she knew she would always love the boy more.
Q3. Katie is so harsh towards Francie because she is tired herself and feels as though she needs to toughen Francie up. However, Francie is already living in a world so void of comforts that Katie (who clearly has gentleness in her and shows it to other characters) could have eased up some. The whole situation of Francie repeatedly being shunned by other kids, teased, and being alone is just so hard to read.
Q1 I wish reading was more a part of my childhood than it actually was... I guess I fell in love with it a little late. I did love the Boxcar children, Anne of Green Gables, and Judy Bloom. I do think it would be great to read a series to them when they get older though I haven't decided on that yet.
Q2 I really think that she believes that somehow she is going to mold her son into the perfect man who is all that Johnny is not. It's almost like the author is making a reference to biblical times when boys were so much more valuable than girls. She said it before she even had time to favor one more than the other. May be she is disappointed by her connection with Francie so she just said it.
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