To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (1960)

Taking place in Maycomb, Alabama during the depression six-year-old Scout and older brother Jem watch their widowed father Atticus defend Tom Robinson, a black man, accused of raping a white woman.

Admittedly this book is often looked upon with dread as yet another required read for high school curriculum.

Now colour me odd, but unlike some of the other things we must read in high school, this book is beautifully written, telling a very difficult story from Scout’s not always innocent eyes.

In the hands of a six-year-old girl, To Kill a Mockingbird is, at times, almost a gothic novel, full  of suspense, mystery, long shadows, and villainous characters who are not always as they seem.

Race, segregation, class, moral heroism, even gender equality, this book has it all.

You Might Also Like:

• The Catcher in the Rye – J. D. Salinger

• The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

Harper, 50th Anniversary edition, May, 2010 336 pages ISBN: 9780061743528

Suggested Reading Level: 12+

Lee, H. (1960) To kill a mockingbird. New York, Harper.

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