I just finished “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” and it might be one of my favorite books.

I’m not proud to say that it illuminated prejudiced beliefs I have about poverty. I’m grateful to the author for that lesson.One passage that sticks out is when Francie & Neely are getting vaccinated, and the doctor & nurse are degrading her muddy arms right in front of her, leaving her red-faced and ashamed. She & her brother had merely been making mud pies.Betty Smith did a phenomenal job of bringing me into the seemingly mundane, day-to-day “normalities” of being financially poor — the amount of free time spent fearing and stressing, creatively planning how to stretch several dollars, defending against the brutalities of the world. The shame.The groups of small children on their way to the dump to exchange scraps for pennies. The candy shop owner who tricks the children into thinking they have a shot at winning the bigger prizes.I am sad today after finishing this book, but I am grateful for it. via /r/books https://ift.tt/R4in1By