Rating: 
Summary: An Insightful Outlook on Prejudice and Innocence
Review: To Kill A Mockingbird is a beautifully written and poignant novel about a young girl named Scout and her childhood experiences with racism, discrimination, and corruption. All of Scout's experiences are laced with an underlying theme, "killing a mockingbird." The author uses this phrase to symbolize harming the innocent, hurting something that is only there to make your life sweeter. This theme often appears, but the book is not at all repetetive. The first few chapters drag a bit, but after that the book is absolutely captivating. I recommend this book to everyone 13 and over, as it does address some mature issues.
Rating:
Summary: Great Choice!
Review: In my English class we are required to read a book every two weeks and post a review of the book on this website. I chose to read this book because of all the positive feelings expressed from previous readers when I asked them of their opinion. This book is set in the 1930's in a small town in Maycomb County, located in the south. The novel shows how white supremacy still lived on, even many years after slavery was abolished, and this novel shows the persistent prejudice shared in the southern morals of this time. Harper Lee has portrayed a common way of thinking of the southerners who are unable to accept that the blacks have been unchained from slavery. The whites find it hard to consider themselves equal to the blacks. This theme has been shown through the lifestyles of the blacks and their struggles they experience from the white community. The main characters in the novel are Atticus Finch, he is a respected Lawyer of Maycomb County. He seems to believe in and does everything in his power to keep justice alive. He has two children, Scout and Jem. Another character of the novel is Arthur Radley, a rather subdued man who tried his best not to have any kind of relationship with anyone of the community, he never steps foot outside of his house. Although you get the feeling that he does not want to remain distant from people by the way he acts with the children (Scout and Jem). Bob Ewell is an absolute evil character who has no touch with responsible behavior. He has no care for himself, his money or his children.
I would have to say the protagonist of this novel is Atticus Finch, he is the key character who directs many events that take place in the novel. Like his positive involvement with the poor whites and the underprivileged blacks of the community. He comes across to me as an understanding person who wishes for his children to grow up with a broad outlook on life and a liberal way of thinking. I particularly like this characteristic because I believe that is how every child should be brought up. The Antagonist of this novel is defiantly Bob Ewell. In the beginning you just think of him as a lazy drunk, who has no care for others. But by the end of the novel you come to feel nothing but total hatred for him because of his attempts to harm Atticus's children and how he doesn't even think twice before sending an innocent person to the gallows.
I usually don't like novels based on that time period in history after the abolition movements. But this novel had a meaning much deeper than just the struggles between the white's and the black's, it illustrated the idea of how the human race thinks and deals with social issues and different morals and beliefs. The novel also had a light and humorous mood at times, like when it connects Jems brotherly manner or Scouts spontaneous actions.
There's no doubt that this book is a classic. It was a time well spent you can not fully consider yourself an American before you read this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who has read and liked "Animal Farm" and "Lord of the Flies".
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Summary: Childhood Lessons
Review: Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a powerful and moving story. It follows Jean Louise Finch (Scout), a young girl, through her life in growing up in Macomb, Alabama in the 1930's. It goes through her trials and growth with the help of her father, Atticus Finch, her brother, Jem Finch, her good friend, Dill Harris and other characters that inhabit the small neighborhood. The mysteries of the world began to take meaning to the children. When Atticus takes Tom Robinson's case, a black man wrongfully accused of rape, the whole town is in an uproar. The racist views of the old South have a negative affect on the Finch family, with threats and harassment. This is a well-written story of discovery and realizations of the way things are and the way they can be. In the end, through a hermit neighbor, named Boo Radley, Scout learns that you can always find the good in others if you look hard enough. This book is a great reminder of how cruel people in this world can be, but at the same time how you can find kindness where you least aspect it. I enjoyed this book, once you get into it; Scout was a very easy character to relate with. She is a symbol of childhood, and exudes thoughts and emotions, that everyone has felt at least once.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth my time!
Review: To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that deals with difficult circumstances around the 1930's. Atticus has two children that he must raise without his wife. Calpurnia, their Negro housekeeper, helps in raising Scout and Jem, Atticus's children. Scout is a tomboy who prefers the company of boys rather than girls; she also chooses to solve her problems with her fists. Jem always gives her a hard time and tells her to act more like a girl. Scout and Jem enjoy school, but they enjoy trying to get Boo Radley out of his house even more. Midway through the story the children come to learn that their father will be defending a black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping and beating a white woman. The two learn to be tolerate to all of the racial remarks said to them daily. In the end Tom Robinson is convicted guilty and ends up being killed in his attempt to escape. One night Scout and Jem are on their way home from Scout's play and are attacked by Bob Ewell, and Boo Radley saves them. In the end Jem has a broken arm and Scout and Boo walk together to Boo's house. When Scout returns Atticus reads to her until she falls asleep. I was amazed on how exciting this book was. I couldn't put the book down. I just wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. It has been a while since I have read a book that I really enjoyed. The brother sister relationship of Jem and Scout reminded me about my brother and me. It is good to see that a white man was standing up for a black man in the 1930s. It is breathtaking to see that Scout and Jem learned to quickly deal with the pestering words of society, not very many kids are that strong. Racism is still around to this day and it is awesome to see that a white man was fighting so hard for a black man. We need more books that teach us what is morally right when it comes to racism. I would highly recommend this book to any person.
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Summary: An American classic
Review: As long as prejudice and injustice exist, the commentary in "To Kill A Mockingbird" will remain relevant and a tool by which we might be able to mend. Author Harper Lee, who earned a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize for literature, once said she never thought of her novel as nothing more than a love story of a widowed father for his two children. The novel is so much more. Intentionally or not, it is a searing indictment of the individual and institutional racism as seen through the eyes of southern lawyer Atticus Finch's daughter, Scout. Written in the innocent words of a child, we see unfolding a white woman's fabricated cry of rape against a black man and the cursory trial trial in which, considering it's the South and a black man is on trial for a crmie against a white victim, the proceedings are little less than perfunctory. As defense counsel, Scout's father endures the disdain of the white community in his lazy southern town. The fate of the defendant, predictable in the then-racist South, is no less heartbreaking and, at the same time, outrageous. Along with racism, the novel touches on people not fully understood, and the character of Boo Radley serves the point masterfully. An American classic in every sense of the word, "To Kill A Mockingbird" is a moving experience that, if we read closely enough, compels us to look beyond the prejudices and discrimination in our own hearts. It is a stunning masterpiece, and anyone who's felt a pang of discrimination ought to be required to read this one.
Rating: 
Summary: to kill a mockingbird
Review: I just got done reading this book. Harper Lee was the author of this novel and she did an excellent job on writing the piece. the novel concentrates on the development of a very interesting child. Scout is her name and the story is told from her point of view. it has very good detail and it is easy to understand. Three children spend there time together and learn so much through out the story. A very inspirational man known as Atticus ficnh deals with alot of problems and not only of his own but as well as for the people living in his community and he guides the children on the right path. This book is very compassionate and dramtic. Harper Lee consists of this to be a love story, i like to think of it as a touching piece that has way more to it than just a love story.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Simply a great book. Funny, frightening, sad, hopeful, and wonderous.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: While this book had a great impact in the 1960s, I didn't read it until 2002. It was on my must-read list and I'm glad I got around to it. While the novel deals with black/white issues during the 1930s, it is much more. Readers today can learn valuable lessons about honesty, integrity, and truth. It's a shame Harper Lee didn't continue to write because she had a wonderful sense of human interaction.
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Summary: From the Top of My Bookshelf
Review: Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is perhaps the best book that I have ever read. It places you in the mind of Scout, a young girl who finds her family in the middle of a scandal that rocks her entire town. This book offers many lessons to be learn about standing firm in your beliefs, the love of family and friends and the importance of equality. Scout's father, Atticus represents the father figure that every impressionable child needs - full of love for his children and worthy of their respect. The actions of many of the townspeople demonstrate how fickle people can be. The book will teach you to open your heart and mind to the world around you.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent; absolutely AMAZING!
Review: I was gifted this book for Christmas and I have to say, it is one of the best books I have read so far. Ms Lee has a way of capturing your heart, so you don't ever want to put down the book.
The story follows Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. Scout. Scout narrates her life in the boring little County of Maycomb, Alabama. Life is good until her father, Atticus Finch, starts defending a black man against the accusation of rape of a white woman. Scout and her brother, Jeremy Atticus Finch, a.k.a. Jem, are teased a lot about it by both children and adults, for, at that time, whites were very much against blacks. Both Scout and Jem are going through a lot, for they are both growing up and, having no mother, life is a bit tough. In the mean time, a boy called Charles Baker Harris, a.k.a. Dill, comes to stay with a neighbor and the three become good friends. In this context, the story is about their whole lives and the wicked plans they come up with. In the end, Scout finds that, if you get to know a person, you always find they're very nice.
This is one of those books that, when you finish reading, you just can't find the right words to describe it and it's so amazing that there are no words to describe it! I have to congratulate Ms. Lee on her amazing book and her extraordinary talent for writing.
I would recommend this book for people of atleast 12 years of age, for the language might not be understood by younger people. This book is good for people who want to just curl up in bed and read, read, read, till they can read no more. I guarantee more than just satisfaction to anyone who reads it!
My only complaint is this: the book shouldn't ever finish! And, as a newspaper rightly quoted: "The reader will find immense satisfaction...and a desire, on finishing it, to start again on page one."
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