To Kill a Mockingbird

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.

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.

Reader reviewed by f00lishchick

oh wow. this book was REALLLLLY good! i now understand why this book is such a wonderful classic that everyone would eventually read when they got older. this movie is also really good! i love the plot and the characters, especially scout becuase she reminded me of how hyper I was back then when i was about her age. this book brings back some memories but most importantly, it puts a new memory in our mind.

Reader reviewed by mike pursley

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is most definitely one of the most amazing books I've ever read. Though the book looks small, the book is filled with life lessons on the tensions between races and classes, your morals with your fellow man, and the basic essence of the bliss and naivety of a little girl.

The book is from the point of view of Scout, a tomboy who watches her father, Atticus, a lawyer, go through a trial that he knows he can't win. He is supporting a black man accused of raping a local white woman. Through the story, you realize the true moral courage of Atticus that can bring tears to your eyes. His opinions on the equality of people and true human courage are what make the book a fantastic read.

I advise the book to absolutely anyone because it is not hard to read and any child can understand the experiences Scout goes through as she grows up.

Reader reviewed by peacechik

like i said, this book was preety good, i guess. i read it because, well now that i think of it idk why i read it. i think its because i saw some of the movie or something. so like this book is preety much about these kids growing up in the south and their daddy's a lawyer and hes defending this brother because hes been acused of rape. this book kinda made me mad because a. he was found guilty even tho he didnt do it
b. that girls daddy had the nerve to be sitting up in that courtroom yelling at that guy, calling him "boy" and mess, and he was the one who actually messed with that girl
c. the brother dies at the end :(
if u wanna kno wat im talkin about, u should read the book. you'll probably be required to read it anyway if u havent already been asked to, so jus read it and get it over with :p

Reader reviewed by J. Mitchell


This brilliantly told story of two motherless children takes place during the great depression. Some of the events depicted in the story are based on real events of the time; the town and the characters are fictional. The lessons Jean Louise (Scout) Finch and her brother Jem learn are priceless lessons on courage, prejudice, honesty, justice, and injustice and more.

To Kill a Mockingbird grabbed my attention immediately. While this novel is entertaining, it is not a "fluffy" read. The story also bears deep analysis of the symbolism used by the author.  For instance, the mocking bird is symbolic of innocence.

While the story is told in first person by an adult Scout reminiscing about her childhood, she recounts a child's observations with an adult vocabulary. This perspective adds a depth to the story that would not be present if the vocabulary used was that of a child.

Young Scout appears to be wise beyond her years (not quite nine at the end of the story); she is also a recipient of her father Atticus's unique parenting style. He believes that the instances of disobedience, the mistakes and errors in judgement made by his children, contain valuable lessons which can help them to better understand and deal with life if they can grasp these lessons.

Recommended to readers who like to read and analyze a story. There is much material for analysis here and many study guides available online and elsewhere for the reader who is so minded. Yet unlike many stories deep enough to withstand the deep analysis, I can also recommend this to readers who just want to be entertained.

Reader reviewed by Vel

To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book out of all the books i've ever had to read for school. Usually they don't interest me, but this one did. I especially liked that it was from a girl's point of view and all the stuff with Boo Radley. There was a lot of suspense in the book.

Atticus was really cool too, especially how he trusted his kids and you could tell he really cared about people. I thought it was a good way to learn about history and things like that too.

I recommend this book for readers of any age. I think adults would like it too. My mom said there was even a movie.

Reader reviewed by cintia

we were assigned this book in our english class. the begining was really slow and i couldnt relate to it but as the story moved on it got better. it has the universal theme dont judge a book by its cover and it is portrayed sevral ways. one of the ways it shows u this messege is when they convict tom robinson because he was black although all evidence showed he was innocent. another way they show this is with boo radley because everyone judged him by mistakes he had made when he was immature. overall it was an ok book..

Reader reviewed by moonymaster

I know this book is a classic and all but I just never really got into it. Especially in the first half of the book I had to force myself to continue reading. In the second half of the book it did get a lot better with the controversy over Tom Robinson. It was interesting and sad to watch as a man was unfairly convicted of something that he was wrongly accused of doing because of the color of his skin. Although the book was very thought provoking, when I look back on it I just can't say it was a great book. Nothing really popped out at me. Even in the sad parts I just wasn't as sad as I could be. In the happy parts I wasn't as happy as I could be. It just all felt kind of bland.

Reader reviewed by Shelby

To Kill a Mockingbird is a good book, but it's not really for me. It's about this tough, smart tomboyish girl named Scout. Her father Atticus is a lawyer, towards the end of the book he represents a black man named Tom Robbinson who is  innocent. He was accused of asaulting a white girl, but the truth was that the women came on to him. Scout also has a brother named Jem. What's good about this book is it's about kids growing up. What I didn't like about this book is that sometimes it's kind of boreing. It ends up being a sad story in the end because Tom Robinson is founded gulity by the jury pretty much because the jury is racist.