Books with author Betty Smith

17-year-old Dylan Geringer isn’t a superhero, but there’s still hope for her anagram-inspired alter ego, DARLING ENERGY. When the all-call system at Dylan’s high school sends out a series of mysterious, automated phone messages in the middle of the night, Dylan and her partner-in-crime, Steven, won’t rest until they find out who’s sending them and why they’ve prompted the town to gather at Valley Forge Park on the Ides of March. Within days of the first message, Dylan and Steven’s investigation yields bigger and more private mysteries among the lives of their classmates and especially about their favorite English teacher, Mr. Drake. The fact that March 15th is both Dylan’s birthday and the ten-year anniversary of the death of Mr. Drake’s son, Benjamin, complicates the countdown. Dylan will need to summon all of her Darling Energy powers to wrangle the town together and keep it from falling apart, and she’ll need Steven’s help to save Mr. Drake from the gathering crowd of marching bands, barbershop quartets, and robed cultists.

'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is now considered an essential part of American literature. As an indispensable classic, Smith's book appears on reading lists across the country. It has profoundly influenced readers from all walks of life--young and old alike. The New York Public Library even chose the book as one of the "Books of the Century." The author drew from her own experiences in growing up in Brooklyn to create the character of a tenacious little girl, Francie Nolan. '