Treasure Chest Thursday: Grandma's 'Banned' Book

This week is the American Library Association's Banned Books Week.  One of my favorite heirlooms that belonged to my Grandma Bellan is her copy of Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which, though immensely popular upon its 1943 release, has also been, at times, banned due to themes related to alcoholism, sex, and poverty.  

Grandma received this book as a gift from her niece and nephew, Linda and Dick DeRigo in 1944. (Linda was only 2 years old and Dick was a baby.)  This particular copy has seen better days; the edges are worn away, the binding has become loose in some areas, and the spine is faded and dirty.  It has that wonderful 'old-book-musty' smell, too.  But that only means that it was well-loved, and, in this case, by more than one generation.  I read this very book as a teenager (it was on my school literature reading list one particular summer), and I fell in love with it immediately.  I wanted to re-read it as an adult, but I decided to purchase a new copy.  I can be rough on my books, and at that point in my life, I was shoving them into the bottoms of bags to read on my train ride home from work.  I didn't want to risk any more damage to a copy I loved so much.

Not only did I inherit Grandma's book, but, more importantly, I inherited her LOVE of reading and books.  When she was living with us in her last year or so, she didn't like to drive too much, so during my weekly trips to the local library, I would head on over to the 'large print' section and pick up a few for her.  I hope that at least one of my children will feel the same way I feel about reading and books, and I hope that they will cherish this book from their great-grandmother as much as I do.

©2013, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder