This wonderful story follows the lives of a young family growing up in Brooklyn. They are poor and strive to make their lives better. I enjoyed the characters strengths and weaknesses, the character of Francie was lovely, I enjoyed seeing her grow up. The parents Johnie and Katy tried hard for their children, Katy's mother advised her to read to her children every day from a good book, good advice, and Katy being the first reader in her family tried so hard to help her children in life. My copy had an afterword which said how most of this story was based on the authors life and how one of the characters had brought a lawsuit against the author. I was surprised as I thought this character had been portrayed as a really nice person.