To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Blurb (on back of book): The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos.

MY OPINION: *****

This was a book I had to read for school but I actually ended up really enjoying it. I mostly like the assigned books we have to read, such as The Outsiders and I was really hoping for a lot from this book, mainly because I've heard a lot about it.

I ended up really liking it. I actually liked it more than I thought it would.

This book dealt with a lot of societal issues and I had to write a few things about it. However, I don't want to share something too boring so I'll just talk a little bit about the premise and the problems throughout the book.

The book is told from the perspective of 6-8-year-old Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. She's still very innocent and "clean" as you would say, and you don't really expect her to know too much. However, I thought she was rather mature for her age and she was very perceptive. I really liked Scout and her ignorance shed a whole new light on social issues that are problematic.

The book is set in a little "provincial" town called Maycomb, where everyone knows each other, and there are the general set people: the gossips, the mean lady, the strange one, the recluse, the sheriff, the doctor, the judge...

And the poor.

The book starts off with a mention of how it's going to be about the things that led up to Scout's twelve-year-old brother, Jem, to breaking his arm. It's a simple thing but then we go into 200-something pages of a ton of events that happened to lead up to this.

Wow.

This is probably one of my favorite school-read books. I really enjoyed how everything came together. I'm just going to go through a short timeline of the book so that I can cover everything I want to cover.

The first chapter was confusing to me but from then on, it got interesting and clearer.

1. From the first chapter, we learn about Boo Radley and how he stays in his house. He's the "recluse" though he had his own reasons. We also meet Dill, whose real name is Charles Baker Harris though we never hear him refer to that name past page 7. Dill is not the most important of characters but he was essential to moving it along and to create a semblance of what Scout's life was like.

2. We watch as Scout goes to school and her teacher tells her to tell her father not to teach her how to read. This sheds light on Atticus Finch, Scout's father, who believes in rather unconventional methods of parenting.

3. We meet Walter Cunningham, and he is discriminated against because of his race (African American). Scout views him as "just a Cunningham" and doesn't seem to understand anything. We first learn of Scout's innocence, though to some it may come off as rudeness.

4. Dill, Jem, and Scout start playing a game about Boo Radley. They act out general gossip and stories that they've heard of him, though they are told to stop by Atticus, who catches them one day. I thought that this scene was put in to show that Boo Radley was put in as a character who the children didn't respect because they didn't think of him as anyone important.

5. We meet Miss Maudie, one of the neighbors, who is friendly and likes Scout. She and Scout have a conversation about Boo Radley, which doesn't help Scout's skewed views.

6. We see a series of traps and plots to try to get Boo Radley to come out of his house. Atticus tells them to stop.

7. Scout is now a year older, seven, and on the way home from school, she and Jem find something in a tree hole. They start to find a lot of treats and goodies and they take it until one day the hole is filled up. This is to show Boo Radley's kindness and genuine goodness despite what many may believe.

We meet a series of new characters and more things happen, including a fire. Then we start the court case about Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a woman, despite the fact that he can't use his left hand and all the evidence points against him towards somebody else.

We learn about serious racial difficulties of the time and we start to see how unfair and unjust it was. Tom Robinson never had a chance and ultimately dies.

The ending of the book almost seemed abrupt but it helps to get the message across: people who seem one way or are influenced by others to act a certain way are actually kind and helpful.

I know this review didn't do justice to the book but it was the best I could do. It went on a lot longer than I thought it would, though.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this book to very strong readers who are interesting in reading a lengthy novel of social issues.

Main Character: Scout
Sidekick(s): Jem, Dill, Atticus, etc
Villain(s): Racism, poverty, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was very real to life.