To Kill a Mockingbird question

Don't even think about it.

Just finished "The Help" and feel it might be a modern substitute, but doesn't have the literary intricacies and richness of "To Kill a Mockingbird"

"To Kill a mockingbird" is a timeless classic that can never be replaced. I have read contemporary novels with similar themes, such as "The Help" and "The secret Life of Bees", and while they were good peices of fiction, they can never be replaced with such an insightful and astounding book as To Kill a mockingbird.

I read Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees several years back and it reminded me of To Kill A Mockingbird. I think it was the Southern setting and the adolescent female main character. But, and I'm not being chauvanistic, it was definitely a female-centric book. So, it might be even harder to get high school boys to read it. They, in turn, may be more incline to read The Lords of Discipline, Pat Conroy's novel based on his time at The Citadel in the early '60. Male main character, martial setting. Both Bees and Lords address issues of racial segregation/bias and moral compass, and both authors are still alive.

I am sure there are books out there that cover some of the themes in this book but I cannot think of one that does it with such simplicity. That is the beauty of it. The young characters add to the appeal for high school students. Discussions could range from racial tension during a dark period in our history, to father child relationships, to the character of Atticus Finch and the lessons he tried to teach his children by living his life with integrity, to awareness of disability. Its endless. And all of this is presented in an easy to read language that just goes to show that efficiency of words can hold much more than is first revealed. I think this is a must read for everyone.

There are absolutely none to compare with this. Are you insane?

I dont think it has a modern equivalent. The Help is a good book but compared to TKMB it loses out in my opinion on many levels. Especially to kids!

If this book is brought up for replacement, it is mandatory to first replace the school board that suggests it. Aside from its messages, this book is astonishingly well written. I don't know if there are any extraneous words, descriptions or scenes in the entire book. Change a word and you diminish it.

I can't imagine how dispiriting it must be to write that as your first book and look at everything you write after and think it's great, but it's not To Kill a Mockingbird.

I'm an english lit student at A level and while mocking bird is a GCSE level book (which I studied and loved) it is still considered 'modern'. It's definitely more modern than most of the books we read in english.

Each book has it's power on us-some lull others teach, others inspire and some make us laugh.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book-in Kenya, we have the course books changed or reviewed almost every two years, we mostly read works by African writers and one book can never really replace the other.
I read TKAM and was taken by Atticus, and Scout.
I would like to recommend Kekla Magoon's : The Rock and the River-it's also a powerful book.

I studied TKAM my freshman year and had a pretty good time. But then the next year, I was also part of a pilot class to study The Help. It felt repetitive, but I do think that The Help could suffice for a school book (as long as it's not an honors class).

I don't think removing this book is necessary. It's a really good book though I just started reading it for English. I think our knowledge should be expand. Most girls like me shouldn't just stick with just romantic novels and face reality. . . You should expand our perspectives with unique exciting books.

I don't believe this book can be replaced, my younger cousin just started her sophomore year, and am very happy to hear she is reading this book this year

James wrote: "I'm a high school teacher. This is a fabulous book and most of my students enjoy it (after a little coaxing). But reading lists change frequently. Are there any current books that could stand the t..."

My novel Zug Island takes a more contemporary, urban approach to the troubled issue of race relations in America. It is a coming of age story set during the summer of the Detroit riots.

Perhaps I might think about The Road by Cormac McCarthy. However, I really dont think there is a truely similar title. I realize TKMB is about race relations in the South. I grew up in the South. However, TKMB is also about the human process of training a child to live in their world. Atticus and Papa are guides for their children both of whom live in dangerous times. But no other title will mirror TKMB.

The Color of Water

In my opinion--nothing could replace this fabulous book. :)

this book can not be replaced. IT has an important message that other books have likely covered but it is written in a way that is unique. It also has a perspective that cannot be replaced. I have never seen a character like Scout and it would be a shame to ever think of removing it or replacing it.

I would NEVER take TKAM off the school reading list .

I thought The Help was much better than TKMB

I think Patrick Suskind has a very pastime quality about his prose (perhaps because he sets his stories in the past—hmmm); surely, though, he’ll remain somewhere in the golden libraries of the 24th Century. But I’m not sure if Perfume is the kind of dissecting book for schools – a lot of the newer and best writers of ‘these days’, I’ve noticed, are the non-fiction writers. Truly. But for novels/literature, I’m stumped, because every great novel I’m reading seems to have made its mark back in the 19th Century or before the fifties.

Personally, I blame Microsoft Word; because it does not give you the ability to dedicate oneself properly in the process of writing (you know, always referring to its automatic corrections and dictionaries); they are great for helping you out, but useless for nurturing aspiring and intelligent writers (unless they’re smart enough to return to long-hand, of course, and don a dictionary holster.)

But that’s all opinion, and my opinion on your question is: No, I don’t feel there’s any modern book that can replace To Kill A Mockingbird in a classroom, especially one that’ll be revered through time; literary expectations has taken a back seat, I think – for a while anyway. It’ll revive. There’s always resurgence. But I’m still only in my 20-ies, still searching high and low for new exciting books and innovative authors. That said everything I’ve found so far, that’s worth noting, is comparative to TKAMB and usually around that era. Sad – I’m never going to be a JK Rowling kind of guy.

I don't think To Kill a Mockingbird could ever be replaced, it is a classic for a reason. I agree with the prior posts regarding The Help but I recently read Thirteen Reasons Why and found myself drawn to the writing and I think that there is a real need to address teen suicide. It could really spark interesting conversation

I've read The Help and I don't think it even comes close to To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those books whose message will never get old or outdated. I don't know if there will ever be a book that could take its place.

I do not feel that there is a replacement for this book. I hate to hear that it has been taken off school reading lists.

I'm in an advanced english class in high school right now. After reading books that push you to your brain's limits with every sentence, it's nice to have a required book that is truly enjoyable while still of substance. To Kill A Mockingbird is just such a book.

Why even bother replacing it with something similar?

Lord of the rings all the way =)

Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands is a parallel text to TKAM. I enjoyed it more than TKAM and most of my students find TKAM extremely slow and boring. I paired the texts in my class and students who were reading Lay that Trumpet read and enjoyed more thoroughly. It's hard to examine the intricacies and complexities of the text if they don't read it.

I wouldn't remove TKAM from the school curriculum, however if a replacement were needed I'd advocate Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe...

"The Hate U Give" seems to me to be the perfect replacement. "To Kill a Mockingbird" teaches that you can easily identify racists because they say the n-word, and that all white people need to be is nice and helpful. "The Hate U Give" has a much more complicated, more honest, and more contemporary take on race, as a young girl with black friends in her neighborhood and white friends at school finds herself torn by a police killing of an unarmed black teenager. It's less sentimental and less reassuring. We need it.

If this book was taken off of my child's high school reading list, I'd probably be moving my family. As far as replacing the book, I would offer up the collected Pogo stories by Walt Kelly. I would hi-lite in yellow the following related material, and send copies to all those responsible for removing Harper lee's book from the list.

"We have met the enemy and he is us."

Probably the most famous Pogo quotation is "We have met the enemy and he is us." Perhaps more than any other words written by Kelly, it perfectly sums up his attitude towards the foibles of mankind and the nature of the human condition.
The quote was a parody of a message sent in 1813 from U.S. Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry to Army General William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie, stating, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." It first appeared in a lengthier form in A Word to the Fore, the foreword of the book The Pogo Papers, first published in 1953. Since the strips reprinted in Papers included the first appearances of Mole and Simple J. Malarkey, beginning Kelly's attacks on McCarthyism, Kelly used the foreword to defend his actions:
“ Traces of nobility, gentleness and courage persist in all people, do what we will to stamp out the trend. So, too, do those characteristics which are ugly. It is just unfortunate that in the clumsy hands of a cartoonist all traits become ridiculous, leading to a certain amount of self-conscious expostulation and the desire to join battle.
There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand. Resolve then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tinny blast on tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us.
Forward!

Nothing can replace To Kill a Mockingbird!

We just read "The Book Thief" in my book club. Only 3 of the people read it besides me, but I thought it was fantastic. I also recommend Night and a New Mexico Book by a local author, can't think of name, but really really good. I guess they read it in the schools here.

As I recognize this to be a hypothetical question, I say it is a great question; it has sparked a lot of interest and controversy. I don't think Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" can be replaced with a single modern piece. I have recently finished Kingsolver's "The Bean Trees" and think it covers many of the topics TKAM does. Also, some which have been listed above that I think would augment this pick are: "The Help", "The Secret Life of Bees", and "The Book of Negroes".

A Thousand Splendid Sun
The Kite Runner
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
I know this much is true

suffice to be considered for the list.

Hmmm.... good question. Not Twilight, for sure (though possibly a fun read). I personally thought that books was OK and plus it definitely isn't THAT old, compared to other classics, like Pride and Prejudice or something written in the 1800's. I'm not sure. :(

CATCHER OF THE RYE?

You can't replace this book with a modern one. It explores themes from a time that no longer exists thats the whole point of reading it.

Wrong question. Ask: "To Kill a Mockingbird" is on our school's reading list. What books would be good additions?"

I LOVE LOVE LOVE To kill a mockingbird. Don't remember how many times I've read it. It's the one book I would want my children to read, because it teaches how to not compromise on your morals, so you can be proud of yourself. No other book can replace it.

I have only just read to kill a mocking bird and I loved it, my daughter is studying it and getting a lot of understanding from it. It's a great book for school!!

What does anyone think of "The Rope Walk" by Carrie Brown? It was an All Iowa Reads pick a few years ago and it reminded me of "To Kill a Mockingbird".

Okay...never, ever, remove this title from our schools. HOWEVER, The Help made me want to re-read To Kill A mockingbird, and as an adult I had a totally different feeling about the book. I found as a parent I now was much more interested in Atticus as a father. Loved both Scout and Skeeter...but now I admire Atticus even more!

This is a book that cannot be replaced or matched by any other book, modern or classic. It is a treasure, and everyone should read it! I reread it every year or two, and it never gets old. Don't mess with perfection, I say.

As an English teacher, I've taught many of the books mentioned in this discussion. TKM is truly one of those timeless classics that should always be taught always. A modern equivalent for me is The Kite Runner which touches upon a lot of the same themes but in a different setting. From my experience, the students have enjoyed The Kite Runner much more than TKM and have often thanked me for assigning it.

Why is it that TKMB stirs up so much emotion? do you think that it.s partially because it.s POV is accurate to that of white liberal english speaking americans? anybody seen or read 'the colour purple'?

As I was reading The Help I thought that it was addressing a lot of similar themes, and I think it's far more accessible. I find TKaM is difficult for kids to get into, that while those who make it through find the second half captivating and powerful, they've got to get there.

I don't think this book should be taken off the reading list. However, a good modern book to study would be Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. It deals with bullying much like TKAM does, but the Atwood book does not offer a real moral compass like TKAM does. If I had a choice between the two, TKAM would be more age appropriate. I think it deals with issues of how to act in an unjust society. I think CE is more about regret and perspectives-very much more adult in its orientation.

Saturdays Are Gold Saturdays Are Gold by Pierre Van Rooyen is on a par with To KIll a Mockingbird.

It is based in South Africa in the 1940s and it covers similar ground in a very different way but to the same standard. While TKAM is from the little girl's perspective SAG is from a boy's point of view as he tries to steer his sister along a safe path with mixed success.

Wow... There is nothing in my opinion that is truly comparable to To Kill a Mocking Bird. Though if I had to chose something that opened a youth's eyes the challenges, hearts, and minds or others I would say that The Kite Runner, Mister Pip, or Book of Negros would be solid options.

I may be biased or "old" ( a very young 49), but so far there is nothing to compare with To Kill A Mockingbird. I do understand that kids' need modern books to which they can relate. Still, surely, The Secret Life of Bees, The Kite Runner (ugh), among others mentioned, will never compare. Hmm, that said, I haven't read The Help, but will now...I guess.