Books Blog : families, Mothers & Daughters

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

KickinLibrarian@evpl — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:04:00 GMT

When I went home a little while back, I saw a copy of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in my little sister's room. Feeling a bit nostalgic, I went home and started reading the battered copy on my bookshelf. I don't know how many times I have read this book (almost as many as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird), but I always come away feeling like I have just read it for the first time.

Betty Smith published A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 1943 and it was an immediate success. The story focuses around Francie Nolan, a young girl growing up in the early twentieth century with a fun-loving, but alcoholic father, realistic mother, and younger brother. Struggling against poverty and isolation from her peers, Francie finds solace in the library where she plans to read every book in the collection. The story continues over the next five years of Francie's life. Her struggle to gain her mother's love, her desire to better her own life, and finding love are all issues that Francie encounters growing up in Brooklyn.

I don't want to give away too much of the story for those of you that haven't read it because A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a book that I believe everyone should read at least once. Francie and her family have struggles that many people can relate to, and you can't help but wish to be the friend Francie so desperately needed. If you are wandering around the library one day searching for something to read, remember to grab a copy of this book.

The Wedding Girl

KickinLibrarian@evpl — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:54:00 GMT

Are you a fan of the Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella? If so, let me introduce you to Kinsella's alter ego, Madeleine Wickham. Both personas write about English women who have found themselves in a predicament. Whether it be money (Shopaholic series), quitting a job and winding up in the country (Undomestic Goddess), or having a marriage from ten years ago come back and haunt her (Wickham's newest novel), women in all of the novels have an obstacle to overcome. The difference, however, is the slapstick humor that can be found in Kinsella's books. When she writes under the alter ego of Wickham, Sophie Kinsella approaches subjects more seriously and tackles some difficult issues.

In the newest book by Wickham, The Wedding Girl, Milly Havill is just four days from marrying the man of her dreams. It seems, however, that Milly has a secret that she has been hiding for ten years and the secret is threatened to be revealed by her wedding photographer. When she was 18, Milly married an American student to allow him to stay in England with his partner. Thinking no one would ever find out, Milly continues to live her life for the next ten years. A few days before her wedding, however, the photographer shows up to take her picture, and Milly discovers it is the same young man that snapped a shot of her first wedding on the courthouse steps.

Milly's story is just one of the storylines in The Wedding Girl. Each character has issues that he or she is struggling to resolve. While there are multiple storylines occurring in this novel, Wickham manages to keep the reader invested in all the characters. It isn't her strongest, or funniest, but for fans of Kinsella or Wickham, it will be another good read.

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder

Guatemama@evpl — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:20:00 GMT

Okay, all you fans of The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood listen up. Whether you read the book or just watched the movie, you won't want to miss out on this one... the latest foray into good ol' Louisiana family drama by author Rebecca Wells.

Calla Lily Ponder is the youngest child and only daughter of Lenora (M'Dear) and Will (Papa) Ponder, proprietors of the Swing N'Sway dance studio and the Crowning Glory hair salon in La Luna, Louisiana. Here, Calla Lily enjoys an idyllic childhood spent with her friends, Renee, Sukey, & Tuck, swimming in the La Luna river, roller skating and hanging out at Nelle's Shop N'Skate, and riding horses. All the while she is under the ever present and watchful eye of the Moon Lady whom M'Dear has taught her to turn to and to use as her guide, in both times of joy and of pain, throughout her life.

And that is exactly what she does. When her world is turned upside down in her late teens, Calla Lily finds strength and solace in the Moon Lady. She allows the soothing water of La Luna to guide her to beauty school in New Orleans to fulfill her dream of learning to heal others through the art of fixing their hair. Calla Lily hones her craft and finds that healing touch that she so admired in her mother's hands, yet she is nearly torn apart by the twists and turns and heartbreaks of her own life's journey. Though Calla Lily can't help but persevere. With the help of the Moon Lady and the memory of M'Dear's words of wisdom, Calla Lily's journey comes full circle... back to La Luna and her own Crowning Glory.

If you are YA-YA fans you will love The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder as well. If not, there is great enjoyment to be had in merely reading the delightfully southern names, places, and situations of this touching crowning achievement.