Overview

[Diane]

I found the book I am Scout: The Biography of Harpee Lee pretty interesting. I am still trying to figure out what the title of the book has to do with her biography. The author’s description of certain people in the book I found pretty funny adding a humorous side to the book. There were lots of interesting parts in the book about Harper Lee’s life that I think middle grade students will find appealing. There is also a lot of history about what African Americans faced in the Deep South during that era, and the vocabulary is understandable making it ideal for middle school students.
I enjoyed reading about her childhood years growing up in Monroeville with her family in the early 1900s. I was startled to learn she dropped out of law school when she only had a semester left to go. Her pursuing her passion for writing seemed to be the right career path she chose. The fame she got from writing the book To Kill a Mocking Bird lasted throughout the rest of her life. I was not surprised the movie was a success too. Had she pursued her second novel The Reverend, it would also have been a great book. I was surprised that her childhood friend Truman did not give her more credit like she deserved for helping him write his book Cold Blood : “But Nelle was very hurt that she didn’t get more credit because she wrote half that book” (Sheilds 188). Another thing I was surprised to learn is she never got married or had children because Sheilds never made any mention of it.
I wonder if she is still alive? In her older years she seemed to retreat more from the public eye - making it difficult to contact her; something she seemed to like less as she got older: “As Reverend Butts rightly observed, “Whether she intended to or not, she created a mystique when she withdrew from the public eye like that”(Sheilds 206). Overall even though she experienced some ups and downs in her life, she lived a very good life.