Young Adult Annotation - Classic

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

Genre: Modern classics, 
books-to-movies

Publisher: various publishers; there

are 249 editions of the book

Publish date: first published June 1960

Storyline: Character-driven

Tone: Bittersweet, Thought-provoking, Moving

Writing Style: Lyrical

Setting: Southern small-town strong sense of place; Maycomb, Alabama, 1935

Literary Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - 1961; Voted #1  - Best Books of the 20th Century - Goodreads (Goodreads, 2014).

Title Read-alikes:
Light from a Distant Star -  Mary McGarry Morris
Ellen Foster -  Kaye Gibbons
The Bottoms -  Joe R. Lansdale

Author Read-alikes:
Sue Monk Kidd
Truman Capote
David Guterson

Plot Summary - 

     Tomboy Scout Finch recalls the years of her youth from age 6 to 9, a time when she becomes exposed to the hatred, injustice, and violence towards African-Americans in her small town in southern Alabama. Her widowed father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who asserts bravery while representing an African-American wrongly accused of rape. He faces alienation and disdain from some of the townspeople because he represents a black man.
     The first half of the book explores the summers Scout and Jem spend with visiting summer-friend, Dill; 
their preoccupation with the town recluse, Boo Radley; interactions with relatives and townspeople; and school experiences with students and teachers. The children learn from their soft-spoken, patient, and courteous father his integrity and ability to accept and respect others for who they are. According to Atticus, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee, 1960).
     The second half regards the rape trial of Tom Robinson and the bitter attitudes of the townspeople toward race and acceptance. Scout and Jem learn first-hand how hatred can lead to violence and the meaning of acceptance through Boo Radley.

My Opinion - 
     
     The book is beautifully written, an engrossing story told through the eyes of young Scout. There is a strong sense of place with vivid descriptions of what life was life in 1930's small-town Alabama. The characters are colorful and memorable.
     I believe this book should be required reading in high schools because it describes how ignorance can lead to hatred and prejudice (as seen through many of the townspeople) and how acceptance and respect can be taught (as seen through Scout and her father). I also believe it is important to tell the story of race relations in the South in the early-to-mid 1900's. This book seems to come up every year during Banned Books Week. Although some of the language in the novel can be strong, prejudice and hatred cannot be sugar-coated and the story needs to be told. 

References

Goodreads. (2014). Best books of the 20th Century.                     Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6

Lee, Harper. (1960). To kill a mockingbird. New York, NY:           HarperCollins.