Exactly how steamy is this story?
G
Bert Breen's Barn is good, wholesome family fare. Seriously. Read it to your baby brother, to your grandma, to your best friend. No one will find anything to squirm about.
Tom's world is entirely one of work and family, with absolutely no attention to peer or romantic relationships. In fact, when Mrs. Breen is reading Tom's fortune, Birdy asks, "Ain't there no girl in them cards for Tom?" Mrs. Breen replies, "No […] He ain't going to be interested that way—anyway not before he gets his money" (6.29-30).
Tom is not interested "that way" for the entire novel. The only suggestion of Tom thinking about marriage comes in a passage after his mom provides solace when the Breen property is sold to someone else: "He hoped suddenly that when he got married it might be to a girl who felt as earnest as Polly Ann did about things" (34.7). This is not meant to be a creepy mom-crush, but rather an emphasis that Polly Ann has a good head on her shoulders, which is a good quality in a mate.
For those hardcore prudes out there, be warned that there are a couple mentions of underwear: once when Tom is Christmas shopping for his mother ("and he didn't think that was quite the thing a boy ought to buy for his mother" [11.3]) and once when they find Bert Breen's money chests. Polly Ann also blushes quite a bit when people remark on her good looks and when she is around Mr. Hook, who Tom and Birdy think may eventually propose to her. Steamy stuff.