About the Book:

“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow…. When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.”

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus–three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.

Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout’s first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children’s consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well–in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout’s hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind “when you really see them.” By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. –Alix Wilber

Book Review:  ★★★★★★

This is one of my favorite books of all times! The power, and the magnitude of this story is still applicable, even today.  Told during a simpler time — and yet covering very real issues from our society — issues that we still find prevalent in modern times.

Ms. Lee has created characters that are so memorable that I frequently find myself reflecting on them, and comparing them, as a sort of base line for all the other characters I read about in books.  The purity of Scout’s voice, as she shows us her world — as seen through the eyes of a 10 year old little girl.  The wisdom, and empathy that her father personifies, and even the evil that is demonstrated by Mr. Ewell is so real — it is like living in the moment.

This book deals with so many issues that it is hard to read this book without getting something new out of it with every new reading.  The symbolism in the book is very well done, and forces the read to think and reflect on what the meaning is behind the story — even for the most superficial aspects.

From the mystery that is Boo Radley, the right and wrong of murder, the moral appropriateness of civil execution — versus justified killing, civil rights before the law, the list goes on and on.  This is a book I love to read at least once a year, because I find that it always has something new to teach me.

As a frequently banned book, this is a great example of the dangers that exist in censorship in our world today.  And while the story may challenge many morals, and push many boundaries — it is still applicable and should be read by every school student.  This is a book that requires more of the reader than simple, passive reading.  It requires mental and emotional engagement.  Ms. Lee challenges her readers to find meaning, and understanding in this simple little story.  It challenges the morals, and racial boundaries of our society, and makes one ask the question  of what truly defines right and wrong?

Tags: America, Civil Rights, Classics, Clean Reads, Family, Friendship, Historical Fiction, Literature, Morality, Young Adult

Category: Classics, Clean Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult Fiction