Original ISBN 978-0-06-174352-8
Harper, 1960
323 pages
Plot Summary: Young Scout Finch and her brother Gem
live in 1930s Maycomb, Alabama with their widowed father, Atticus. One summer,
their lives totally change. With the help of friend Dill, they try to get the
neighborhood spook, Boo Radley, to come out of his house, and Atticus is asked
to defend Tom Robinson – a crippled black man – in the rape of a white woman
from the wrong side of the tracks. Scout and Jem end up learning about
themselves, their father, and the injustices that plague their town.
Critical Evaluation: This book is eloquently written and
puts the reader right in the middle of the Depression-era South. The story is
told through the eyes of a young girl and readers can appreciate her innocence
in terms of coming to terms with the injustices that are going on in her town. Lee’s
story is full of symbolism as the mockingbird is representative of many
characters in the story. To Kill a
Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. It is considered to be a
classic and many school districts have selected it as required reading. NPR
recently ranked To Kill a Mocking Bird
third of the 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels (behind Harry Potter and The Hunger
Games series) as ranked by the public. Not bad for a 50 year old story.
In 1962, the
book was turned into a movie that earned two Academy Awards. The American Film
Institute has said that Atticus Finch is the greatest movie hero of all time (ahead
of Indiana Jones and James Bond).
Reader’s Annotation: Young Scout Finch and her brother Jem
must learn to come to terms with the social injustices in a small southern
town.
Author Information: Nelle Harper Lee was born in 1926 in
Monroesville, Alabama. She wrote To Kill
a Mockingbird when she was 34 years old. She based the book on her town, her
relatives and friends (one childhood friend is author Truman Capote), and the
injustices of racial discrimination she witnessed. It is hard to believe that
this was Lee’s first and only novel. She has shied away from public life and
lives quietly in the same small town in which she was born. In 2007 she was
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest civilian award in the
United States.
Genre: Adult; Coming-of-age
Curriculum Ties: English Language Arts in the
discussion of theme and symbolism; American History in the discussion of the
mistreatment of African-Americans in the South during the Jim Crow Era.
Booktalking Ideas: I always start with a discussion of recent cases of
racial discrimination. We also discuss the examples of people being labeled
something that they’re not.
Reading Level / Interest Age: Grade 7 and up
Lexile: 870
Challenge Issues: To
Kill a Mocking Bird
is one of the most heavily challenged books, probably due to the fact that it
is required reading in so many high school English classrooms. Most challenges
are due to racial slurs and profanity.
Reason for Item’s Inclusion: To
Kill a Mockingbird is
my favorite novel. Its message is very powerful.
References:
AFI’s 100
years…100 heroes & villains. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.afi.com/100years/handv.aspx
Banned and/or
challenged books from the Radcliffe Publishing course top 100 novels of the 20th
Century. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/reasonsbanned
Your
favorites: 100 best-ever teen novels. (2012, August 7). Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2012/08/07/157795366/your-favorites-100-best-ever-teen-novels
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