Goodreads | To Kill a Mockingbird

topics	replies	last activity
Banned books, Banned authors	1	03/01/2008 03:54PM
Assigned Reading in High School	37	2 days ago, 07:06PM
Did she write this?	34	25 days ago, 09:05PM

Denise rated it:

01/25/08

bookshelves: bookgroup, books-i-love-so-much-i-bought, classics, made-into-movie

Read in December, 2004

recommended to Denise by: Bookgroup
recommends it for: Everyone

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I looked up Harper Lee online this is her only published book. However, she did write a few articles that one can find and read online:
Love in other Words - Vogue
Christmas to me - McCalls
When Children Discover America
Romance and High Adventure

Her full name is Nellie Harper Lee - I bet she dropped the Nellie part so publishers would mistakenly think she was a man and read her material. She is also still alive and living in Monroeville, Alabama. And once you read about her and her fami...more

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Núria rated it:

09/23/07

bookshelves: 2007, owned

Read in August, 2007

No sé por qué, yo siempre me había imaginado que 'Matar a un ruiseñor' estaría todo más centrado en Atticus Finch y lo noble y buen abogado que es, todo muy judicial, así que me he llevado una grata sorpresa al ver que todo estaba narrado desde el punto de vista de una niña que va creciendo y las historias de niñas, no niños, que crecen son mi debilidad. Así que podemos ver toda la hipocresía y las injusticias de la sociedad a través de sus ojos. La protagonista es Scout y tiene un ...more No sé por qué, yo siempre me había imaginado que 'Matar a un ruiseñor' estaría todo más centrado en Atticus Finch y lo noble y buen abogado que es, todo muy judicial, así que me he llevado una grata sorpresa al ver que todo estaba narrado desde el punto de vista de una niña que va creciendo y las historias de niñas, no niños, que crecen son mi debilidad. Así que podemos ver toda la hipocresía y las injusticias de la sociedad a través de sus ojos. La protagonista es Scout y tiene un hermano que se llama Jem; los dos se han criado en un ambiente liberal, en que les han enseñado a pensar por si mismos y a intentar ser justos con todo el mundo. Por eso cuando descubren que en realidad la sociedad no siempre se rige por los mismos principios que les han enseñado en casa (básicamente que la justicia no se pone siempre de parte de quien se la merece), la decepción y el golpe que se llevan es considerable, sobre todo para Jem. Quizás no lo sea tanto para Scoutt porque las niñas ya estaban acostumbradas a que no se las tratara con justicia respecto a los chicos.

Atticus es el padre de Scout y Jem. Y realmente está hecho del material que están hechos los literary crushes. Es noble, tranquilo, pacífico y valiente, lucha por lo que cree aunque sepa de antemano que va a perder, no le gusta salir por ahí y se queda en casa leyendo, lleva gafas y va notando que se hace mayor. Scoutt es una niña algo muchachote. Por eso consideran que es una niña rebelde, porque hace las mismas cosas y juega a los mismos juegos que se ven naturales en los chicos. Cuando aún es pequeña aún le permiten comportarse como un muchachote, pero a medida que va creciendo incluso ella se va dando cuenta que tendrá que dejar atrás todo esto para ser una dama y comportarse correctamente. Pero aún siendo una dama puede conservar su personalidad y no convertirse en una chismosa superficial más, como ha conseguido hacer la señorita Maudie, su vecina, que es casi como una figura materna para los dos hermanos. La señorita Maudie es un personaje que me ha fascinado, porque es una mujer que, aunque aparentemente ha aceptado las normas, sigue siendo ella misma, sigue teniendo su carácter y no mordiéndose nunca la lengua.

Me han encantado todos los pasajes referentes a la casa donde vive encerrado Boo Radley, porque en cualquier infancia ha habido una casa que decíamos que estaba encantada y que nos daba miedo, pero a la vez suponía una tentación irresistible para ir a investigar y a explorar. Y también me ha encantado el detalle de que en la escuela regañen a Scoutt porque ya sabe leer, porque se considera que sólo la escuela tiene derecho a dar una educación uniformizada para convertir a los niños en cabezudos que piensen todos igual, mientras que todo el conocimiento que viene de fuera es rechazado, porque es como peligroso.

Y el final me ha parecido magnífico. Es una novela redonda, porque al final se recupera una anécdota que se había mencionado justo en la primera página y de la que yo ya me había olvidado. Me gusta como Scout se hace mayor. Me gusta que el libro nos diga que nos hacemos mayores cuando ya no miramos tanto al futuro con ilusión sino al pasado con nostalgia; cuando nos damos cuenta que ya hemos aprendido lo esencial, que ya no aprenderemos nada más realmente importante, porque las bases de nuestra personalidad ya están cimentadas; cuando entendemos que ya no tenemos que tener miedo de fantasías que nosotros mismos nos hemos inventado; cuando somos capaces de ponernos en el lugar de otra persona, porque al fin y al cabo esto es lo principal que les ha enseñado Atticus a sus hijos: a ser capaces de ponerse en el lugar de los otros y entenderlos. Es por todo esto que es una novela tan valiosa. Y preciosa. Y acabas queriendo tanto a los personajes que cuando se termina te da pena tener que despedirte de ellos.
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Dacia rated it:

(review of isbn 0446310786)

04/08/08

bookshelves: audiobook, childrensnovels, kid-stuff, notsooldclassics, thoughtplay, veryemotional

Read in March, 2008

I really enjoyed this book. However, I do not understand why so many people try to use it to teach "deep thoughts" about human nature, freedom, equality, etc. to high school students. It seems to me to not work as an adolecent book at all.

The story was written in language and manner that would appeal to children. There was a story in it for children. 10-12 year olds would probably like the book for its humor and adventures. They probably would absorb little of the deeper mean...more I really enjoyed this book. However, I do not understand why so many people try to use it to teach "deep thoughts" about human nature, freedom, equality, etc. to high school students. It seems to me to not work as an adolecent book at all.

The story was written in language and manner that would appeal to children. There was a story in it for children. 10-12 year olds would probably like the book for its humor and adventures. They probably would absorb little of the deeper meanings, but that's ok. Adults are far enough removed from childhood to be able to look back at the book and understand all the deeper trains of thought. However, adolecents are not. They lack the distance to truly appreciate the innocence that Scout portrays. They lack the experience to CARE about the bigger lessons. I imagine any 8th - 10th grade literature class would find this book a bore and miss both the beauty and wisdom within it.

As an adult though, I found both. The story was beautiful. Scout was a classic heroine: tomboyish enough to appeal to boys as well as girls, a rebellious streak that endears her to frustrated children, a quick mind and impetuous insight that reminds adults of just how intelligent a child can be. In so many ways she reminds me of Mary from "A Secret Garden" taken out of 19th century England and put down in 1930's Alabama. There was so much history and idealism in her life in a small southern town so long ago. So different and yet so similar to my own upbringing in a small Texan town a half century later. The way Scout saw problems, grew INTO problems, and learned to deal with them was remarkably accurate considering the limitations of language within a child's tale. I thuroughly enjoyed this book, and learned something as well. To me the most valuable lesson wasn't in the way Atticus (spelling? I listened in audio)taught Scout and Jim to be "colorblind". Instead, the lesson I found most valuable to myself was how he taught them to deal with their peers and neighbors who weren't. This day in age, racism isn't quite dead yet. I see far less of it in my own generation, but old habbits die hard, and there is still plenty in the generation of my parents and grandparents. Even more important - people have begun to discriminate in ways that have nothing to do with race. Sexual orientation is of course the "hot button" issue right now. When one sees his/herself as "tolerant", it's hard not to believe yourself also morally superior to others. Atticus takes pains to remind us all that while we don't have to absorb the beliefs of others, the fact that they hold such beliefs doesn't make them monsters. I'm not advocating hatred or discrimination, and I certainly believe that anyone who displays such things violently should be punnished. However, it made me reconsider some people in my life I'd written off as hopelessly narrowminded, and made me realize that just because they were narrowminded in one way didn't mean they were totally worthless in all ways. That's a hard lesson to internalize, but it's an important one. ...less

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Ashley rated it:

11/13/07

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”(p. 20)

I love this book and this idea of reading being like breathing. As Scout did, I read early, too and often. Every night before bed I would read and still do. I saw a Twilight Zone Episode once where the main character loved to read and only wanted to be left alone to do so. After falling asleep in the vault of the bank where he worked, he awoke to a post-disaster world where only he was left. ...more “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”(p. 20)

I love this book and this idea of reading being like breathing. As Scout did, I read early, too and often. Every night before bed I would read and still do. I saw a Twilight Zone Episode once where the main character loved to read and only wanted to be left alone to do so. After falling asleep in the vault of the bank where he worked, he awoke to a post-disaster world where only he was left. He busily gathered together all the books he wanted to read, all organized and stacked up. Just as he chose one to start with, his glasses fell and he stepped on them trying to find them. It was terrible and I remember feeling horrified that this man would never get to read again! Such a thought had never occurred to me. This semester I had to get glasses myself after suffering migraines from reading. I was so nervous at the eye doctor because the thought of not being able to read was too much for me. Of course, I only needed readers, but when I ran across this quote, I thought about how much like breathing reading is for me.

“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (p. 87)

Never say die! Fight the good fight no matter what! I love the anti-defeatist message in this quote. Even thought Atticus knows the deck is stacked against him, he tries anyway. He understands that sometimes you have to fight the un-winnable fight just for the chance that you might win. It makes me think that what he’s trying to teach his children is never to give up just because things look dim.

“...before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.” (p. 120)

As Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.” That’s really all that matters. At the end of the day, when you lay down, you have to know that you did the right things, acted the right way and stayed true to yourself. Again, Atticus understands that the town is talking; he has to explain to his kids why he continues against the tide of popular thought. He sums it up so well here.

“We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.”(p. 320)

I love the sad way this quote sounds. It is clearly the thoughts of a child, for hadn’t she just given Boo his dignity as they were walking home? Hadn’t she and Jem given him children to care for and watch over? But she knows, too, even from her child’s perspective, that they could never give him anything close to what he had given them—their lives. It just sounds so beautifully sad.
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Daniel rated it:

04/26/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 1964

This is a classic in every sense of the word. The movie, of course, was amazing and Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch was, I believe, his greatest role. If you have the time look at his career, Gregory Peck that is. In our day of celebrity-hood and celebrities endorsing causes, Peck has a great lesson to teach them. He chose his roles based on the importance of the message in the script. You can go to imdb.com and review his career or probably netflix, but here was a "star" who...more This is a classic in every sense of the word. The movie, of course, was amazing and Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch was, I believe, his greatest role. If you have the time look at his career, Gregory Peck that is. In our day of celebrity-hood and celebrities endorsing causes, Peck has a great lesson to teach them. He chose his roles based on the importance of the message in the script. You can go to imdb.com and review his career or probably netflix, but here was a "star" who never took on the silly trappings of celebrity, but used his power to get scripts produced into films just so the public could hear the message, the little bit of truth embedded in that story that could change hearts and minds and even go right to the audience's soul and touch them in a place where the cinema rarely goes in this day and age. The book was a must for everyone in the South especially in the 50's and 60's when I was growing up, but perhaps even more so today and perhaps globally it should be required reading so the world can understand where we were to appreciate how far God has taken us toward truth, unity and unconditional love. "To be loved by a black person" I heard a comment recently on PBS by an African-American radio personality about being black and what was the best part of his ethnicity. His response was, "the joy, the honor of being loved by black folks; because they know how to love you in a way that I can't explain." I was privileged to grow up being loved by a woman named, Nettie Hill. She was my "mammy". I know this is a racist term today and it bordered on slavery, but I was a baby and all I understood was that she loved me and I loved her. One day when I was about 5 (1956) I was outside playing with my white neighbor friend and Nettie brought me my jacket to put on so I wouldn't be cold. Then she kissed me and I kissed her. As she walked away, my neighbor said, "You just kissed a nigger!" I was shocked and hurt. I'd only heard that term once or twice and all I knew was that it was mean. I immediately blurted out in shock at his ignorance, "No, I kissed Nettie! Nettie's not a nigger!" I rode on the back of the bus with Nettie. I spent a lot of time at house off Jefferson Street, the only white boy playing ball in the street. her children and grandchildren got my hand-me-downs because I was the youngest of four and the end of the line in my family. I last saw Nettie 30 years ago before she died to introduce my wife to her. She said, "Danny, you were the prettiest baby I ever had." I felt five years old and I blushed. My brother and I were the only white people at her funeral. I saw the civil rights movement through Nettie's eyes. Her niece was one of the little girls who integrated Little Rock's schools. I owe her so much, so much. Her daughter came to my mother's funeral and we just hugged and cried. When Atticus Finch walks out of that courtroom and all the black folks in the balcony silently rise, one of the eldest leans down to tell Scout, "Get up when your father passes" Scout asked why and the old man said, "Because a great man is passing." To be loved by black people is a wonderful thing and I can't explain it. I just know they know how to love unconditionally and with all their hearts....less

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Steve rated it:

04/11/08

The following was a review I wrote April 1. I've since come to view it in a different light, and now believe it's one of the finest books ever written.

April 1

It's funny how things can change. I recall really liking this book the first time I read it back in about 8th grade. Maybe I should have just left it at that--a pleasant memory from my youth--rather than picking it up again as a more clear-sighted (some might say jaundiced)grown-up. I probably wouldn't view my favorite book from...more The following was a review I wrote April 1. I've since come to view it in a different light, and now believe it's one of the finest books ever written.

April 1

It's funny how things can change. I recall really liking this book the first time I read it back in about 8th grade. Maybe I should have just left it at that--a pleasant memory from my youth--rather than picking it up again as a more clear-sighted (some might say jaundiced)grown-up. I probably wouldn't view my favorite book from 4th grade, The Secret Weapon, the same way either. The intense drama of a glue-fingered benchwarmer who was called in at the end of the big game to catch the winning touchdown might seem shallow and contrived to the current me, too.

I realize I'm swimming against the tide here, but how many of you have reread this supposed masterpiece as mature adults? I can't be the only one to see Scout as the rather obvious wish-fulfillment of Harper Lee. Reading since infancy, brave as any boy, inherently fair-minded, a noble spirit well beyond her years... C'mon, Harper; you've got to give her some flaws we mere humans can relate to. Now Jem, on the other hand, was just a run-of-the-mill dullard. As written, he's not necessarily going to grow up to be the depraved male in a Lifetime movie, but it's clear that Ms. Lee doesn't like this kid with the penis. And Dill? How can we not think of him as the future Truman Capote, fat and affected?

My real problem with the book, though, now that my blinkers are off, is the sheer perfection of Atticus. His progressivity knows no bounds. You're going to tell me that a lawyer is capable of empathy and integrity?!? And where is the contextual complexity, you might well ask. Wouldn't this son of the South, to be at all realistic, have wrestled a savage grudge match against himself; his Doppelcracker, if you will? Even a hack with the faintest of ties to post-modernism would know to include that much conflict.

Clearly, Atticus is a balm to assuage white guilt for a nasty racial past, but I wonder if that by itself qualifies as clothing for the emperor. Ironically, people who are happy to applaud the courage Atticus displayed in standing against popular sentiment will likely castigate me for doing the same.

Whenever you take an extreme view (and I know I have; even defying Oprah, for chrissake), you have to wonder what that says about you more than it does about the work under review. Maybe had this been March 31 or April 2, I would have felt differently, but today I felt a strange need to rock the Goodreads boat. Did anyone fall out? Happy AFD!
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Tori rated it:

02/05/08

Read in May, 1999

recommends it for: everyone

I was in 8th grade when i first read this book. I thought I was wicked cool because my sister was reading the same book (she was 17 and i was 13).

For the most part, I didn't really know what rape was and the seriousness of the topics of this book: racism, gender rights, sexual violation, the corruption of several institutions, learning/teaching hate, ect.

It was really interesting to read this book again when I was 17, in comparison to when I was 13, it was a whole 'nother world from when...more

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Jennifer Brown rated it:

12/07/07

bookshelves: american-literature, books-i-ve-named-pets-after, classics, fiction, own

Read in March, 2005

Notes from an academic discussion about the book:

Each time I read this book, a different “universal truth” jumps out at me. When I was younger, I pondered the themes of prejudice, kindness, and dignity that run through the book, but now that I’m considerably older, what stuck out to me this time were the themes of innocence, and loss of innocence running through the whole book.

This reading I was particularly caught by the child-like perspective that the book gives each of the event...more Notes from an academic discussion about the book:

Each time I read this book, a different “universal truth” jumps out at me. When I was younger, I pondered the themes of prejudice, kindness, and dignity that run through the book, but now that I’m considerably older, what stuck out to me this time were the themes of innocence, and loss of innocence running through the whole book.

This reading I was particularly caught by the child-like perspective that the book gives each of the events. From the kids all thinking anything that touches the Radley property is poisoned, to Scout’s minimal understanding of the words used in the trial, but her complete understanding of the concepts. Likewise, with the exception of the trial, throughout the book innocence trumps experience. A particular example was when Scout first finds the goodies in the Radley tree. She finds the gum, ponders its origins, and decides that she’d like chewing the gum better than being all grown up about it. Jem, who always represents a more mature (but not much more until near the end) perspective, and he makes her spit it out when he finds out where she got it from. In the end though, Scout’s innocence let her get a good chew out of a wad of gum.

I think the fact that the book takes place over three years helps show the contrast between the innocent time at the beginning of the book, when Scout was six, and Dill, Jem and she played as relative equals, to Scout’s first day of school where Jem begins to brush her off as the “little sister.” By the end of the book, when Scout is nine, she may be physically older, but it seems that she is even more sheltered by Jem, who thinks the concept of the trial may be too grown up for her. He moves through the story from her equal to her protector, which only helps to keep Scout innocent through the book.

In the end though, the book really proves that there is something magical and golden about innocence. There is a purity and truth in innocence—whether it’s a dignified response to an unfair world, or simply an acceptance of things even if they are strange and different.

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Cavel[miissy] rated it:

04/15/08

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Cavel[miissy] by: teacher
recommends it for: patient readers who are up for challenges

Harper Lee used complex vocabulary words in <u>To Kill A Mockingbird. As a reader it is best if you don't know the words to get the meaning. In getting the meaning you'll then understand the text and its deeper meaning. The first few chapters were not quite interesting and made me lethargic. At times I felt like giving up but if I did so I would be a disappointment to myself.

When Dill was introduced in the book to Jem, Scout and to the readers, we could see a change. The style that Ha...more Harper Lee used complex vocabulary words in <u>To Kill A Mockingbird. As a reader it is best if you don't know the words to get the meaning. In getting the meaning you'll then understand the text and its deeper meaning. The first few chapters were not quite interesting and made me lethargic. At times I felt like giving up but if I did so I would be a disappointment to myself.

When Dill was introduced in the book to Jem, Scout and to the readers, we could see a change. The style that Harper Lee used demonstrated how the usage of slangs were present. This was seen with the way how the characters conversated. Jem and Dill were good friends but to Scout he was her boyfriend and soon to be husband. Their immaculate curiosity to know if Arthur Radley was alive and in the house went far. Jem made Dill's persuasive ways get the best of him and went over and touched the Radley's house. That was not the end, he also went over to the house in the night and almost got shot. Atticus their father had little ideas about their schemes to them. Really he knew all about their plans and intentions.

The trial scene I disliked. This is so because Tom Robinson was African American and before he was tried he was already founded guilty.I think this because there was seperation in Maycomb between the different races. It was wrong for someone of opposite color to married or mingle with someone who was not from their race. The part that really made me melancholy was when Tom got shot for escaping. I think that the other people look at this that he was guilty thats why he ran. I think he ran because he knew he didn't raped Mayella Ewell. This to him was like killing a mockingbird because mockingbirds have not done anything wrong but sing lovely music so why should we kill them.

In the last two chapters it was ironic. Ironic in the sense that Arthur who was the suspect of curiosity became Scout's
friend and also her hero. He is her hero because he saved her life. That tree that Bob Ewell stumbled on also saved them. Scout finally got to live out her fantasy of holding a good conversation with Arthur. It was sad that Jem and Dill didnot get to witness it. Jem did not get to do so because he was unconscious and Dill was in Meridian.

If you are a reader that don't give up that easy on reading then this book is for you. Also if you are interesting in the ways of the south their nurse Calpurnia's personality is a good exmaple. This book is fascinating and for Harper Lee to put the climax in the last pages is brilliant. ...less

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Deanna rated it:

01/06/08

Read in January, 1982

recommends it for: Anyone, period

Mrs. Pat Brunner, my 8th grade English teacher, first taught me this book. Mrs. Brunner was a very special teacher to have, passionate and sweet and charming and knowledgeable (hey, Mrs. B!). So when I saw how excited she was about this book - she clearly and unabashedly showed us that she was over the moon about it - I was all-in. (And by the way, that was a very dangerous position for her to be in with a junior high English class - one wrong move and we all would have written her off as a c...more Mrs. Pat Brunner, my 8th grade English teacher, first taught me this book. Mrs. Brunner was a very special teacher to have, passionate and sweet and charming and knowledgeable (hey, Mrs. B!). So when I saw how excited she was about this book - she clearly and unabashedly showed us that she was over the moon about it - I was all-in. (And by the way, that was a very dangerous position for her to be in with a junior high English class - one wrong move and we all would have written her off as a crazy adult we couldn't relate to no matter what.)

The detail of Lee's descriptions is captivating - right off the bat. "Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." I felt like I lived there in Maycomb County with Scout and her family. Mrs. Brunner was positively radiant as she read this passage aloud to us, as her first example of Harper Lee's beautiful writing style. You can see further evidence of Lee's detailed approach to writing simply by reading Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, which Lee helped him research and to which she contributed a great deal of material (without much credit from Capote - check out Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, by Charles J. Shields).

Harper Lee's ability to weave deep-seated morality lessons into a highly enjoyable story is another reason I love this book. She never seems preachy, and her meanings are close enough to the surface to be accessible to every reader, but her widespread symbolism and allegories do not interrupt the flow of Scout's childish (okay, so she's a very intelligent child) narration of seemingly simple events.

The biggest reason, however, that I continue to go back to this book to stay in touch with Atticus Finch. What a noble man - loving and disciplined father and teacher, stalwart member of his community, and the one person the judge knew he could count on to fairly represent Tom Robinson. We could all do much worse than to strive to emulate Atticus in our own lives.

Finally, I agree heartily that the film version is remarkably brilliant and really managed to capture the essence of this incredible book....less

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Mona rated it:

(review of isbn 0446310786)

07/25/07

bookshelves: law, literature

Read in July, 2007

I read this book a long time ago, when I was ten years old. I remembered nothing from it except thinking it was really, really good. And here I am, thirteen years later. I picked it up again because I was curious about what my reaction would be to it now.

The book follows three years in the life of Scout Finch, her brother Jem, their father Atticus, and their fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the era of the Great Depression. The first half of the novel focuses mainly on Scout and Jem's c...more

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(C) Archer rated it:

02/11/08

bookshelves: girls-have-read

Read in December, 2007

recommended to (C) Archer by: Celeste

This book has inspired me a lot. This book has shown me that all people are equal. This book has shown me that people should be respected no matter who they are, where they come from, what their background is, or the color of their skin. You shouldn't judge someone just because their hair is darker than you. Everyone should have everyone's respect and no one should judge someone before they really get to know them.

Scout, Jem, and Dill all judged Boo Radley. They made a game out of him l...more

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Lauren P rated it:

04/08/08

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: April Goodreads Report 2

I liked To Kill A Mockingbird. This book is about a girl named Scout and her brother, Jem. Scout, Jem, and their friend, Dill try to make Boo Radley(Jem and Scout's neighbor who never comes out of his house) come out. They do not succeed, but inside of the tree in front of the Radley house, they found presents. Some of those presents included a watch, soap figures, and pennies. They also found little hints that Boo Radley was watching them. Then, Jem and Scout's father, Atticus, is appointed to ...more

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Razzberry rated it:

06/05/07

Read in May, 1982

A beautiful, if painful, coming-of-age story. Set in fictional small town in Alabama, the story talks about life in Depression-hit America. It starts out with an affectionate description of the sleepy southern county. Scout and her brother Jem are raised by their widowed father Atticus and their housekeeper, Calpurnia. Their summers are consumed by grand plans to lure the recluse Arthur “Boo” Radley out of his spooky home. The ladies meet for missionary teas and “bathed before noon, after ...more

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Stephen P. rated it:

04/09/08

recommended to Stephen P. by: i had to read it for school
recommends it for: To anybody

This is an amazing book. It takes place in Maycomb, Alabama just after the great depression. This book is written in the perspective of scout. Scout first tells us that her brother was almost thirteen when he broke his arm, but he could still play football, and that was the most important thing.
She then went on to tell us how it happens. Scout dad was Atticus finch a very good lawyer in Maycomb. Her older brother was Jem and he loved football. In the beginning of the story there next door ne...more

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Jill rated it:

(review of isbn 0446310786)

08/01/07

Read in June, 2005

recommends it for: Republicans

It's too easy to write a review about this book that describes the adventures of a young girl nicknamed "Scout," who only looks at the world through precocious eyes. It's too easy to describe Harper Lee's only published, though brilliant, novel as a biography, if you will, of the Jim Crow South. Yet for all the straightforward simplicity of the story, we do find in it the tremendous depth of raw human depravity, as well the supremacy of ethics and righteousness that all mankind can as...more

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Megan B. rated it:

04/21/08

bookshelves: april-22-book-review

Read in March, 2008

recommended to Megan B. by: Mrs. Turnbow
recommends it for: anybody

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

'To Kill A Mockingbird' is a riveting tale about a young girl named Scout. It's based during the Great Depression when tensions between whites and blacks were peaking. Scout and her older brother Jem live their lives as normal children. They then meet a boy named Dill, an out-of-towner whom nobody wants. They all gossip about the Radleys. The Radleys live in a run down-house down the street. Arthur 'Boo' Radley has been rumored to have stabbed his father in the leg with scissors. The children pa...more

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Tijuana is currently reading it

11/30/07

bookshelves: currently-reading

im on the part when tom robsion was guilty of some he didnt do a white woman say he rape her and he went to jail of some he didnt do in attcuis was affending him that this man have children and a wife and attcuis did his best but it really dint work out the judge kept saiding guilty guilty and

To Kill a Mockingbird

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