Wednesday, June 11, 2008

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is a book that can be enjoyed by young and old alike. It tells two stories - one of Atticus Finch, an attorney in a small southern town during the depression. The other of his daughter, Scout.

Atticus, knowing that he'll very likely lose, agrees to defend a man that has been wrongly accused of a hate crime. Scout, a precocious child who utimately discovers all that is good within herself.

My favorite part of the book was the scene in which Atticus gives his daughter this advice: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it." I felt that Scout took that piece of advice and in her own childlike way tried to understand the pain endured by Tom Robinson, the man her father is defending; and the cowardice of Robert Ewell, the father of his accuser.

A wonderfully well written book of endurance, honesty and justice.

Written by Lisa Keith