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Book Review of To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
hoopridge avatar reviewed on + 252 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 10


Required reading at the high school where I teach, and rightly so. Yes, the story starts slowly and never has the cymbal crashing climax that we expect these days, but it is still there, albeit more quiet and therefore more impactful.

This book is told through the eyes of Scout as an adult, reflecting on what happened when she was 8. Living in a small southern town during the Depression, Scout sees the injustice, prejudices, and triumphs that occur during the trial of a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman.

More than the trial, though, Scout sees her father, Atticus (one of the literary characters that I have a HUGE crush on!), in a new light as he not only defends the man in court, but also shows Scout his human side. More than a father to Scout, he becomes a hero.

If you only read the first chapter and the last, you may get a picture of the whole book, but you'll miss out on the delicious description of life during the 1930s in Alabama, from Scout's fights on the playground to the wonderful telling of summers in Maycomb.

Read it. You won't regret it.