To Kill a Mockingbird

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a classic. When I was in middle school in the 60's it was required reading. The book is a powerful story that explores racism, injustice, and moral growth. The story is told through the eyes of a child, who learns valuable life lessons that will undoubtedly shape her into a responsible, compassionate, and moral person. The book is so beautifully written and powerful. This is an excellent book to re-read every decade or so, reminding us of the value of empathy. I have purchased several copies over the years and eventually gave them away to loved ones.

It is obvious why Harper Lee’s incredible book is considered a classic. It is a masterwork and, rightfully, a Pulitzer Prize winner. This is a book to keep for your entire life and read over and over again. I had read this as a teenager and as a young adult and then seen a movie adaption. When my book club chose this for this month’s reading, I thought I knew the story well enough already and didn’t want to buy it or end up on the waiting list at the local library. I am so glad I decided to buy the Harperperennial edition on Kindle. There are many different levels for readers to enjoy this book. As a mature reader, I got much more out of the book than I did as a teenager or as a young adult. The story takes place in Macolm, a small town in Alabama, in the mid-1930s. Scout and Jem have lost their mother to illness but live with their lawyer father, Atticus Finch, and Calpurnia, their housemaid. Later Aunt Alexandra comes to live with them. She is determined to change Scout’s tomboy tendencies into those of a lady. The story is a very good depiction of the South at this time in history. All the family, town and country characters are vividly portrayed. Neighborhood gossip abounds. Racisim (although still with us) was even more rampant then. Growing up with many childhood adventures, Scout and Jem grow up more quickly when their father is appointed to defend a Negro. Tom Robinson, the young Negro (the polite term at the time), is charged with a crime he did not commit. It is his word against that of a white man, Bob Ewell, and his daughter, Mayella. She says Tom raped and beat her, when, in reality, her father had done so. Tom is convicted with no solid evidence as to his guilt. Bob Ewell is determined to get back at Atticus for suggesting at the trial that he beat his own daughter. When a very drunk Bob Ewell tries to kill Scout and Jem one dark Halloween night, they are saved by Arthur (Bo) Radley, a neighbor recluse whom they had been afraid of and made fun of as children. They learn a tough lesson about the so-called “good people” of the town and countryside. They learn tolerance and respect for those who are different. Scout and Jem learn to appreciate the moral compass of their father, who is one of the few adults who has the courage to do what is right. Harper Lee has a wonderful ability to tell a story and pull the reader into each scene. The writing flows fluidly and beautifully. Sometimes I like to hear a story, however. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is such a good story that it deserves to be listened to as well. I supplemented the Kindle with the Audible version with Sissy Spacek as the narrator. How absolutely marvelous! Sissy Spacek is just amazing as a reader. She brought the story even more alive! NOTE: If you buy the Audible version for the Harperperennial edition, Sissy Spacek reads the entire novel.

Not sure what else can be said about this. Some of the best characters in literature. A must-read classic

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper lee is an amazing novel. This book is through the eyes of a young child named jean-louise/scout finch who is a very big tomboy. This book is very good and you end up getting very fond of the characters it almost seems that your growing up with them. As you may know this book is a classic, reading it now the only thing that bothers me is the grammar and the language but in the end i love this book. I highly recommend it for anyone 13 or older because it can be inappropriate sometimes but it's a classic for a reason. This book is very fun to read and see the life of the 1930s. Scout and her older brother Jem grow up in different ways and later in the book jem starts discluding scout from the games he does. In this book you can see how racist people were and how much the world has changed. To kill a mockingbird is about racism and some slavery as well this book really gets it’s thought across of how unfair life was during the early 1900’s. Scout also gets to experience school and how strict they were back than to the point where she was hit with a ruler. Scout growing up realizes that life isn't always perfect like it was when she was younger. This book has wide examples of racism and it's very hard to read about it seeing the world now but to me that's just one con of many pros. I believe the themes to To kill a mockingbird are racial injustice. There are some serious problems including racial injustice and rape. [SPOILER] in this book there is a trail about a black man named Tom robinson accused for rape even with no proof and him stating what actually happened he still was considered guilty. I believe this book could also be considered a mystery because in the book the kids including Jem, Scout, and their friend DIll harris are trying to find out what Boo radley looks like, boo radley was a convict for murder and was in house arrested and the kids always tried to get him to come out of the house. This book can be a mystery and other ways as well, In the book scout one day walking home from school saw a few treats hidden in a tree she kept coming back to the tree seeing all these treats and stealing them, she always wondered who put them there though. In the end I believe that this book deserves it's tittle of being a classic. This book may have a slow start until it becomes interesting but after that it is just a all around great book. I really believe that seeing two sibling who very much acted the same and were very close grow up and become more protective of each other and different in their own ways, I quickly realized how engaging this book is the more you read of it and that's why I believe this is a very good novel.

When young Scout Finch takes center stage in To Kill a Mockingbird, readers of all ages are in for a story that’s as rich in heart as it is in meaning. Told through the sharp, curious eyes of a little girl growing up in the deep South, this classic novel invites kids (and grown-ups alike) to think big thoughts about fairness, bravery, and what it really means to do the right thing. Harper Lee’s writing is clear and clever, with just the right mix of serious truths and childhood charm. Scout is smart, spunky, and says exactly what she thinks, which makes her a wonderfully relatable guide. Her older brother Jem and their quiet hero of a father, Atticus Finch, are equally unforgettable. (Atticus, it should be noted, delivers life lessons so good they might as well be printed on fortune cookies.) While the story deals with heavy topics like racism and injustice, it does so in a way that younger readers can begin to understand; not by shouting, but by gently showing. And yes, there are courtrooms and sad parts, but there are also hilarious neighbor tales, summer games, and one mysterious Boo who may not be so scary after all. To Kill a Mockingbird isn’t just a school book; it’s a story that sticks, like your favorite bedtime story but with more meaning and fewer dragons. It’s a book that helps young readers grow up just a little bit wiser. Highly recommended for curious minds, brave hearts, and anyone who’s ever wanted to peek behind a front porch curtain.

I got the book for my teenage son to read, as I read it when I was young, and it's a great classic that I'd recommend! This is an attractive and inexpensive book, so definitely worth the money.

Perfect gift for teen.

If ever there were a book I would consider voting for as the “Great American Novel”, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the one…the only one. It is hard for me to say that there is a one great anything. Times change, technology improves, and social views evolve. In short, we are never the same from one generation to the next and trying to pick anything that spans the gap and the differences as the greatest of all is difficult, if not a complete waste of time. When it comes to literature, there are so many fine books and so many great writers that trying to narrow the selection to the “one great one” interferes with valuable reading time…generally. But then there is To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s story takes place in the small southern Alabama town and county of Maycomb during the depression era 1930’s. She paints a picture of the community and the people populating it through the eyes of Scout (Jean Louise Finch) the daughter of a prominent local attorney, Atticus Finch. As the book opens, Scout is preparing to begin her first year in grade school. She and her brother Jem and friend Dill pass the summer doing the things children did before the age of video games and twenty-four hour television. They played. They entertained themselves. They went on adventures. They told stories about the frightening, recluse who lives on the corner. They were children. They did all of this under the watchful eyes of Calpurnia, the black woman who is housekeeper and surrogate mother to the family. Scout describes her as “all angles and bone…with a hand as wide as a bed slat and twice as hard…” In the Finch household, Cal is treated as an equal, a partner in the upbringing of the children and an indispensable member of the family. That is in the Finch household. Outside their small world, things are different in the community of Maycomb. I find Calpurnia to be one of the most interesting of characters in the story. She is a strong and independent black woman who makes her way in the world dominated by whites. Scout is amazed on one occasion when visiting at Cal’s church that she spoke differently to other blacks, using their particular colloquialisms and dialect. It was very different from the way she spoke with Scout and Jem in the Finch home. Scout had no idea that Calpurnia lived this “double life” relating differently to the two cultures in Maycomb. In short, racial prejudice reigns, as was common in the time. Blacks, Negroes as polite members of the community called African Americans in that day, are second-class citizens with a place in the universe of Maycomb that is always inferior to the whites. Even the most white-trashy, ignorant, slovenly of whites holds a place in the community superior to any of the blacks. As a southerner who grew up in the south in the 1950s, I remember the “Jim Crowe” days. I went to schools that were not desegregated. I saw white only water fountains and restrooms. Black children were to be treated kindly, but we did not associate as a rule. They had their world. We had ours. As Scout paints a picture of Maycomb through the experiences she shares with Jem and Dill, it begins as a sort of “Mayberry-esque”, idyllic memoir of her childhood. But events open her eyes to the underlying darkness of their culture. Maycomb is not the perfect little world she thought. She is guided by her father, Atticus, through the twisting cultural maze she inhabits. He teaches her not to judge others, but to get in their shoes and walk around a while to see how the world looks from their perspective. Most importantly, never kill a mockingbird because all they do is sing and bring happiness without harming anyone else. Atticus is the rock in Scout's world, giving her rope to explore and float about on the sea, but always there to anchor her safely. Brother Jem (short for Jeremy) and friend Dill are her conscience and mentors in a way. Dill, rambunctious but sensitive, opens her eyes to things she had missed in their small community. Jem, sees and struggles with the contradictions around them...white people they have known all their lives as good people, doing things and saying things that they know to be wrong. Through her innocence and confused effort to understand what is happening around her, we see that things are socially complicated. Whites harboring racial prejudice are not all evil as Scout describes their interactions. Instead, you get the feeling that they are ignorant, not seeing the contradictions in their lives, one instant treating a black member of the community in a courteous friendly manner, the next making sure they understand their place in the community…second class. Some, however, are evil. The Ewells are the evilest of them all. Their conflict with Atticus and his defense of a black man, Tom Robinson, accused but innocent of a terrible crime leads to a chilling climax in the concluding chapters. In the event that there is someone who has not read the book or seen the movie, I will not include any plot spoilers here. Just know that it is a gripping story with a conclusion that keeps you on the edge of your seat before Lee allows you to take a breath in the final chapter. The prose is superb. The story is engaging and riveting. There are moments that will make you smile, others that will make you angry and some that might bring tears to your eyes. Most of all, Harper Lee’s use of a little girl, Scout, to bring the narrative to life is masterful. It is not a children’s book, but through the eyes of a child, we see ourselves and the world around us. For me, that is why To Kill A Mockingbird is the great American novel. It spans the gap of generations, and through Scout’s eyes, looks into our soul.