Book Review: To Kill a Mockingbird
What Parents Should Know
Through the eyes of children Jem and Scout Finch, racism is
examined when a black man goes on trial for the rape of a white
woman. By turns warm, satiric, and devastating, this is a true
American classic.
This stunning, lyrically-written story deals with the severe consequences of intolerance. The book is sure to inspire many important conversations with your kids.
Common Sense Media Review
"One time [Atticus] said you never really know a man until
you stand in his shoes and walk around in them." This richly
textured novel, woven from the strands of small-town life,
allows the children, and the reader, to walk in the shoes of
one fully realized character after another.
Jem gets to know Mrs. Dubose, whose bad temper hides morphine addiction, which in turn hides nobility and courage. Scout gets to know Aunt Alexandra, mistress of the cutthroat world of social graces, whose steely perfectionism masks her doubts. They come to know Boo Radley, whose world is what can be seen from his window, and who waits in the shadows for his moment to step forward--and then retreat again, and forever.
They see the heart of their town laid bare as it is divided, not just between black and white, but between the prevailing racism and "the handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only." They get to know the Negroes in the Quarters too, where they are welcomed because their father is a hero, willing to stand up against an entire town on behalf of justice. "Miss Jean Louise, stand up," Rev. Sykes tells Scout in one of the novel's most powerful moments, "Your father's passin'."
They see the evil born of ignorance and squalor. And they see their father, under whose quiet righteousness and gentle civility lives an undemonstrative love that will always be there. With unmatched power of loving wisdom about the human heart, this book is one that no one should miss.
One sixth-grade teacher, who read the story aloud, received letters from former students years later--even into adulthood--saying that listening to the story was their most vivid memory of that school year. One grown student said, "It was the first time I felt that anyone, real or fictional, had leveled with me about the adult world." Another said, "Atticus really made me think about how I wanted to live my life. Even now he's my moral touchstone."
Another child's-eye view of a town divided by racism, aimed at a younger audience, is Maniac Magee.
From the book:
I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
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