A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

On Thanksgiving Day, all the children in Francie’s neighborhood dress up in costumes and go around asking the storeowners for treats. Francie and Neeley partake, and though Neeley ends up with a bloody nose and Francie is bullied, they finish with treats to show for it. They go home and eat with their parents and listen to Johnny talk about his childhood experiences on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day is also the occasion of Francie’s first lie. She lies to her teacher so that she can eat a pumpkin pie that was otherwise being discarded. Her teacher finds out but pushes Francie to use her “imagination” to become an author instead of a liar. Francie takes the advice and soon takes up writing.

Francie loves Christmas in Brooklyn, especially the window displays of sleds, dolls, and roller skates. The Christmas Eve when Francie is 10, Francie and Neeley join the neighborhood kids at an annual event where unsold Christmas trees are thrown at willing participants hoping to win the weaponized trees by not being knocked down by them. Francie decides to go for the biggest tree there, a joke to those around her.