A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

     A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is the heart wrenching journey of one young girl and her immigrant family as they reach for the American dream.  Smith captures more than the poverty of Brooklyn during the first decades of the twentieth century; she captures the indignity that the poor face as they live at the mercy of those who own everything as they hang on to the edges of life with their dreams.  She captures the determined steel in the characters’ survival instincts as they refuse to be corroded by the toxic fumes of oppression; she  does this as they maintain family pride with love and humor.
     Smith makes the reader aware that in poor communities, intimate noises come across narrow spaces between crowded housing and linger on air waves; it is where little girls and little boys find their role models as they gaze into neighbors' lives; it is where hands reach out to catch those who stumble.  It is also where those hands find ways to push each other toward their dreams.  They leave connections humming.  Life is palpable!
     The reader chokes on swollen emotions but, before they overwhelm the heart and inner strength, love refuses to die.  Johnny, the father, is the gentle beauty that soothes Fancie; Neeley is the little brother that gives her life meaning; Katie,  her mother, is that flexible piece of steel that drives determination into them all.  And Sissy!  Sissy is that beautiful aunt that everyone loves; she is the aunt that allows some rules to break; she is youth and, no one can resist her temptation.
     Fancie's story, childhood to woman, holds the novel together.  Her tree is not only planted in the soil, but it is planted in your heart, and in her heart.  The tree refuses to die; it endures and endures and eventually it thrives.
     

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

     The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, is a book of a young boy's sudden plunge into reality.  He is challenged by emotional trauma and the reader is confronted by a child's innocent depression and result of post traumatic stress.
     The love of his life; the woman who gave him meaning dies a tragic death.  And, the trauma has a ripple effect throughout Theo's life.  In his opinion, he has no father, and he is all alone in the world.  On the way to foster care, Theo is "saved" by a wealthy family and he makes relationships that, in some respects, soothe his wounds, but also they create longings that are not necessarily achievable.
     As Theo story continues, the sadness in his soul reflects in a controlled desperation that drives his human connections.  He is "adopted" by a someone eccentric antique furniture artist.  He gives his heart in secret to a young woman who has ideas of her own.  Over time, he encounters his father and makes attempts at a new family.
     Crime and drugs enter his story as he struggles to stay safe; his honesty is challenged.  Along the way he plays with the idea of marriage.  He wants to create family.  As his story culminates, Theo experiences many human challenges; he experiences highs and lows; and he reaches out for understanding.