I am reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn right now, or I should say rereading, having read it two other times before. In many ways I identify with Frankie, her imagination, sensitivity, shyness, and love of words and writing make me feel as if we might have been sisters. I really enjoyed your critique of the book and agree that it certainly qualifies as a great, if not the greatest, American novel. Having read many outstanding novels about or by American novelists, I would be extremely hard pressed to say which is the truest representation of the great American novel, but it is certainly enjoyable to speculate about it!