To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee

Category: Fiction

Themes: Tolerance toward others, kindness, integrity

Rating: 10 out of 10 

Who Might Enjoy This: Older teens and adults

Reviewed By: Tim Carver

I was an eager reader growing up. In the 5th grade my mother suggested I read To Kill a Mockingbird. Even at that early age it captured me and became a favorite. It received the Pulitzer Prize and was the only book Harper Lee ever wrote.

Told through the eyes of 8 year-old Scout Finch, the story takes place in a small town in Alabama at a time of great racial prejudice. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is a lawyer who willingly accepts the challenge of defending a black man of a false accusation.

You’ll be inspired by the integrity and kindness of Atticus. You’ll be captured with the adventures of Jem, Scout and Dill as they seek to solve the mystery of Boo Radley. And hopefully you’ll spot, much sooner than I did, that there is more than one ‘mockingbird’ in the story.

There is power in this book to touch hearts and minds.

Tim Carver

Quote: “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

Atticus Finch

Note: The movie is wonderful also (see our Movie Reviews).