To Kill a Mockingbird

Summary: Scout lives with her brother Jem and her father Atticus, who is widowed. They live in Maycomb, Alabama that is suffering in the great depression. In the summer the two siblings befriend a kid named Dill. Dill starts to become interested in the Radley place where Arthur or boo lives in, and never comes out of. One day Scout and Jem skip school and find presents for them in a knothole on the Radley house. The next summer Dill comes back and the three of them sneak onto the Radley property. Nathan Radley starts shooting at them for sneaking on. Jem looses his pants and when he goes back he finds them fixed and hung over the fence. Over the next winter Jem and scout continue to find presents in the knothole possibly from Boo. After a while Nathan clogged the hole with cement. Atticus agrees to defend a black man who was accused of raping a white girl whose name is Tom Robinson. Because their father agree to that Jem and Scout get abused by the kids at school. The next summer Dill is supposed to live with his new father but he runs away to Maycomb. Tom Robinsons trial starts and he placed in the local jail were he was lynched by a mob of men. Atticus stands up to them and Jem and Scout sneak out and join their father. At the trial Atticus provides clear evidance that shows that Mayella Ewell (the girl who "got" rapped) and her father were lying. Mayella propositioned that Tom Robinson was caught by her father and then accused him of rape to cover the shame and guilt. Atticus also provides evidance that Mayella was abused by her own father. Even thought he was proved innocent the white jury convicts him. Later Tom tried to escape but gets shot to death. Mayellas father Bob feels embaressed so he attacks Toms widow, breaks into the judges house, and then attacks Jem and Scout when they were walking home. Boo sees it happening and intervenes and saves Jem and Scout and stabbed Bob. He carries Jem back home and to protect him Jem tells the sherrif that Bob fell over a tree branch. He later disappears into the Radley house. Later Scout feels bad for Boos way of living and finally sees him as a person.

I like how the book ended and the steps leading up to the ending. I don't like reading long books and it takes me a long to read them but I felt myself captivated in reading the book and read it in four-five days.
I would definitely read it again and would recommend it for other people.

at first i was like,"well,here we go this is going to be a long book.' But was i wrong! i love this book! Ms.Lee really took you into Maycomb County in 1930s Alabama and into Scout Finch's life. I couldnt put the book down. i loved this book and hope you do to!

I read this in my junior year of high school, and I still love it. It is something that you never forget.

I love this book

I read this book a few years ago, but I loved it. I need to read it again. It's beautifully written with a powerful message and some of the most likable characters in fiction.

This tense, atmospheric gem of a story takes place in a southern setting that is so real I feel like I could walk out my front door and see Boo Radley hiding behind his curtains in the house on my corner. I love the sense of adventure, honor, and family love that permeates this story. The deeper issues of prejudice and true justice are always worth looking at, and seeing them through the eyes of a child makes it that much more poignant. A wonderful book that everyone should read.

Overall, this a splendid book and I very much enjoyed every bit.

Reader reviewed by Alice - A.S.B.A.

General Overview: This book took me
a week to read. A week. Books hardly ever take me that long to finish.
I did, however, very much enjoy it.

Characters:
Although I enjoyed Scout's narrative, I thought she seemed too mature
and insightful for her age -- she's supposed to be eight, yet she
sounds like she's at least sixteen. I did think that she was extremely
perceptive and wise, and I really enjoyed that for a change, instead of
girls who are somewhat ditzy and clueless. It was also interesting to
read from the POV of such a young character, at an age where not much
of the world is yet seen or understood. My favorite character by far,
however, was Atticus. I loved his shrewdness and his intelligence, and
I liked how he was so very capable of standing up for himself and for
his family. He seemed, to me, to have the personality and mannerisms
that most men should aspire to also possess.

Plot: Okay, this book is a classic,
and I can understand why. The book addresses serious issues such as
racial discrimination, though also moral values such as family and
trust. Though this book has its light moments, it is, for the most
part, a somber book, and I don't think it is to be taken lightly. Half
of this book revolves around introducing the children, Jem and Scout,
and their obsession with a reclusive man named Boo Radley. The second
is about a case their father, a lawyer, has taken on about a man named
Tom Robinson. The majority of this book is not centered around Tom
Robinson's case -- it's centered around how the children grow and how
they act, and their family and the environment they grew up in.

Writing:
It might be a little hard to understand, as are all classics. But once
you do, you jump right in. Lee's writing is absorbing and clear, and I
very much enjoyed her style of writing.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Reader reviewed by Flash


The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is both a delightful and suspense-filled piece of literature. Set in the rural city of Maycomb County during the middle of the Twentieth Century, the story consists of both adventure and thrill. Told through the eyes of Scout Finch, a young girl growing up at the time the story takes place, also the main character, this story has equally classical and real-to-life qualities. Atticus Finch, Scouts father, an attorney-at-law, conducts a court case of Tom Robinson, an African-American man who supposedly attacked a girl named Mayella Ewell. Many of the townsmen vehemently appose Atticus choice to protect a black man, and threaten to harm him, as well as his family, throughout the story. Though at the end of the story, Atticus does not win the case, and Tom Robinson dies by getting shot while escaping, this story shows the power of friendship and love of children, family, and neighbors, as well as the consequences of hate, violence, and corruption.
Throughout the course of the story, the protagonist, Scout Finch, and the antagonist, Bob Ewell, both receive both consequences and rewards, while fulfilling their parts in the story. Scout executes her role as the protagonist by telling us everything that happens to her and her brother Jem during the short period of her life that we see. She leaves out no details, and explains everything, ranging from each game she plays, to the tinniest details of the court trial. The antagonist, Bob Ewell, fulfills his role well, though introduced late into the book. Although unsuspected at first, Bob Ewell becomes a horrible man, eventually trying to kill Scout and Jem, since their father defended Tom Robinson. Both figures fulfill their parts well, making this story have a both exciting and unexpected ending.
While not apparent at first, the conflict becomes clear by the end of the book. A reoccurring theme through the end of the story, the conflict looks like that of Bob Ewell trying to make Tom Robinson take blame for attacking Mayella. However, the author hints that the attacker might be Bob himself, though never spoken outright. The conflict becomes resolved when, while trying to kill the children, Bob Ewell dies getting slain by Boo Radley, a neighbor of the Finchs, who has not come out of his house for thirty years. This unexpected twist will delight readers. Harper Lee does a good job of showing the climax, while making the other characters think Jem the likely killer.
Though apparent, the climax of the story unfolds quite unexpectedly. It begins when Scout and Jem, walking home from the school pageant, begin to hear rustling noises. They think the rustler will consist of Cecil Jacobs, a boy who scared them before as a joke on Halloween. Then, Jem yells to run, and a battle ensues. Suddenly, someone helps Jem and Scout, although Scout thinks Jem begins fighting Bob Ewell, who had attacked them. Later, they find out Boo Radley saved them. This portion of the book qualifies as a climax because the readers find out that Bob Ewell becomes the real antagonist, and Boo Radley ends the story as a good person.
To Kill a Mockingbird, overall, results in a great book. Hard to understand at first, since the girl, Scout, has a boys name, but after a while, I liked it. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to read a story about children, and their every day life adventures. Through the journeys of Scout and Jem Finch, we can see the joys they experience and sufferings that they endure, as well as the triumphs that they win together, with the love of each other, as well as that of their entire community. Even though many had prejudices against them and their father, Jem and Scout handled them all in different ways, sometimes good, others bad. Never the less, both strive to always accomplish the right thing in every instance. This story of growing up and love of neighbor is a great enjoyment for all.