Rating: 
Summary: read this as a teenager,,, reread it as an adult
Review: "It is a sin to kill a mockingbird." This book is about justice, and conscience... it is about race, and bigotry... it is about courage, and cowardice... it is about values of the family, and the culture... it is about humanity. The novel speaks through the 8-year-old voice of Scout Finch, the youngest child of a widower, Atticus Finch. There are two stories being told. One story is about Scout, her older brother Jem and their summertime friend Dill Harris as they pass three summers together in a small town in Alabama, when they focused much of their energy on a reclusive, neighbor, Boo Radley. The other story is about the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman in 1930's Alabama. Atticus is appointed to represent the accused. The seamless writing brings both stories together in perfect accord by the conclusion.At first it would seem unbelievable that "To Kill a Mockingbird" was written by a Southern author, but upon reflection, it could have only been written by someone from the South. Harper Lee had one incredible story to tell and she told it well. Don't read this novel for inventiveness. Read it for the near perfect writing. Read it to be moved. Read "To Kill a Mockingbird" because it is a sin not to.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Realistic
Review: I decided to write a review, because some communities in my area have seen fit to ban this book in the public schools, but I am here to support this book 100%. I read this book last year as a freshman in high school. It was very fascinating and a great learning experience. It teaches how things in the world used to be and perhaps still are. Through the course of the book you will fall in love with Scout, an intelligent and insightful young girl. You will also find the greatest respect for Scout's father Atticus because he does as his conscience dictates no matter how much he is opposed by the people in his community. It is a book everyone should read, whether they are a child, teen or an adult. This book has been banned in the public schools in my area because it tells the truth about the world. But you can't change history, or ignore it. Read this book because the plot is excellent, the characters interesting, and because all history is important, not just the sugar coated parts.
Rating:
Summary: What a Book!
Review: What an incredible piece of work! I really enjoyed this book. It gave me Southern life during the great depression, and taught me a little something too. Scout is rambunctious and spunky, her adventures with Jem and Dill made me laugh quite a few times. Atticus is quite impressive, he had a sense of justice and an intelligence I've never seen in anyone. This is a real life story, if not true, and it'll make you really think about the predjudices we hold against other people.
Rating:
Summary: A classroom favorite
Review: Out of all the books that I've taught to 10th graders, this is by far the most popular. More discussion comes from Mockingbird than any other I've required students to read. It's amazing to me that this was Lee's first and apparently last work. How many Pulitzer-winning authors can claim they only wrote one book? And then to have it win such acclaim! There must be good reason why it is still ranked in the Top 1000, an amazing fact when you consider how many books have been written. I just wonder how many new books today in the Top 10 will be virtually unknown five years from now. To Kill a Mockingbird deals with a number of individual and social issues. No doubt the most sensitive issue is racism. I read a newspaper article this past summer where some big-shot scholar is claiming that Mockingbird is actually racist and should be read/taught with politically correct glasses. Give me a break! Lee was way ahead of her time and dealt with reality in a quite appropriate manner. The story line is crisp and never bogs down. It will make you think, and I believe it will create an urge in you to dialogue with others about vital contemporary issues of our day.
Rating: 
Summary: Not My Favorite
Review: I can see why some people enjoy To Kill a Mockingbird. It is very vocal about certain issues in life. I was completely bored reading this book. Although I liked Scout and Jem, I was not excited to read about a young girl's life in a small town. It seemed like a small plot and was not planned well. A court case is hardly a thrilling idea.
Rating:
Summary: It's a sin
Review: Not to like this book. Harper Lee's semi autobiographical Pulitzer Prize winner is a superb account of bigotry and injustice set in 1930's Alabama as viewed through the eyes of children. The hero of this moral fable is lawyer Atticus Finch, who sets the small town of Maycomb ablaze with controversy when he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a crippled Negro who is accused of raping a white woman. But this isn't just a story about Tom Robinson. It's also a coming of age story, a story which blatantly illustrates the fact that we learn something new every day, and that we must never judge situations or people by appearances. Tom Robinson, a simple, hardworking Negro, is judged by the colour of his skin, and by the oft held assumption that ALL Negroes lie, that ALL Negroes are evil and dangerous, that no white woman is safe around a Negro male. And Boo Radley, the subject of decades long gossip and innuendo, is judged by the children - Jem and Scout Finch and Dill Harris - as being a bogeyman, a malevolent being who has dedicated his life to the pursuit of evil. Yet, unbeknown to them, he is their secret benefactor, and someday he shall literally save their lives. Disappointingly, this is Harper Lee's only novel. But then, any follow up to this superlative effort would surely have been inferior. It's hard to believe that Lee was an adult when she wrote this - her ability to describe the world and its idiosyncracies as seen through the unjaded, uncynical perspective of a child is one of the most memorable and enduring pieces of literature ever penned, provoking thoughts in the reader like "What is truth?" and "What is just and right?"
Rating:
Summary: Should have gotten TWO Pulitzer Prizes.
Review: As a present to myself, I reread this book once a year. It is a timeless novel, with too much truth to it. It also saddens me to know that there are still people in this world who hate others simply because their skin is a different color, or they may have differences in beliefs, atittudes, ad naseum. The hate crimes we keep reading about in the papers show we haven't come a long way. I only lament that I didn't first read this book until I went to college and started reading it in a speed reading class. HA! There is no way you can read this book in a speedy manner. It needs to be savored slowly and revisited to fully appreciate the story. I also gave a speech on Ms. Harper's book in class as part of an assignment to sell something. Even students who didn't like reading were willing to take a chance on it, and thanked me later. I just wish Ms. Harper had written other novels. Not sequels, of course. It would be impossible to write another book about the Finches, or their world.
Rating: 
Summary: A happy book
Review: I missed reading this book when I was in the category 'young adult' and so recently I purchased it and bought it. The characters are realistic and the scenery is beautifully painted. The story really brings you back to the time when you were 7 or 8 and really thought in such a happy, clear way. I suggest this book for 10-14 years old.
Rating:
Summary: Prejudice
Review: To Kill a Mockingbird contains criticism of the prejudice and moral laziness that allowed Southern society to have a double standard of justice. The novel also presents a somewhat optimistic view of white Southerners that was somewhat unusual at the time the novel appeared. The story indicates there are good human beings like Atticus Finch everywhere, even in the midst of a corrupt society. Even those who do wrong, the novel goes on to suggest, often act out of ignorance and weakness rather than a deliberate impulse to hurt others. Another theme of the novel is the transition from innocence to experience. At the beginning of the story Scout's world is limited to the boundaries of her immediate neighborhood. She feels safe and secure, and totally confident that the way things are done in her home is not just the right way, but the only way. The arrival of Dill, who comes from a broken home and has lived in another state, gives Scout her first hint of a variety of experiences beyond her narrow horizons. Then, on her first day of school, she begins to discover that not everyone agrees that the way things are done in Maycomb, Alabama, is necessarily correct. She also learns that sometimes it is necessary to compromise in order to get along. Even though Scout's teacher's ideas about how to teach reading may be wrong, Scout must respect the teacher's authority. Her own father advises her to ignore the teacher's ban on reading at home, but to pretend to go along with the teacher's methods while in the classroom. This kind of social hypocrisy is new to Scout, and she is surprised to hear her very moral father advocating it. Related to the theme of innocence and experience is the novel's suggestion that innocent children can often see large moral issues more clearly than adults. Scout, Jem, and Dill never waver in their horror at the injustice done to Tom Robinson. The adults in the story, however, see all the complexities of the situation to the point of being blinded to the central issue of right and wrong. However much Scout may grow through her exposure to new experiences, one hopes that she will never lose her childlike undertaking of justice. In the view of this novel's author, justice is a simple concept. To recognize the difference between justice and injustice does not take any special degree of wisdom or sophistication. In fact, the learned members of the community--such as the judge and prosecutor--and the proudly religious Baptists who are spectators at the trial are, willingly or not, allied with the machinery of injustice.
Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Review: I was assigned to read To Kill a Mockingbird in 8th grade. It was a thick book with small letters and I was dreading it. I decided to watch the movie first. This is not a good idea in most cases but I loved it so much I wanted to read the book. I found that the book was just as good as the movie. It contained much more detail but was interesting through and through. I think everyone should read this book. It's situations are so true even of the world today. It has been three years since I first read it and I have enjoyed it many times since then. This was the only book Harper Lee ever wrote. She said that it contained all she wanted to say. Any book containing all of someone's ideas is worthy of our attention.
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