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To Kill a Mockingbird

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill a Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

In the sleepy southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, Scout Finch and her brother Jem revel in the glory days of childhood, trading stories and superstitions with Dill Harris, the imaginative nephew of their neighbor. Dill is especially fascinated with the legends surrounding the mysterious Boo Radley, who stays in his house all day, but, according to rumors, comes out at night to dine on squirrels and cats and peek in windows. Their summer days are spent adding to the Boo Radley legends or devising ways to make Boo come out.

Scout becomes increasingly uneasy about playing games that revolve around Boo Radley. Guided by the wisdom of her father, Atticus, and Calpurnia, their cook, Scout is learning the ways and unwritten rules of southern society and how to get along in it.

Atticus is a lawyer with an extremely difficult case on his hands. Tom Robinson, a black man, has been accused of raping a white girl. With deep-seated prejudice working against him, Atticus must prove his client innocent. Scout and Jem watch while their otherwise civilized neighbors show subtle disapproval or outright distaste for Atticus's defense of a black man.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into 10 languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.

If you would like to study this book further, you can use one of the following studies:

• To Kill A Mockingbird Study Guide published by Progeny Press, also available in CD-ROM format.
• To Kill A Mockingbird Study Guide published by Classroom Complete

Author	Harper Lee
Product Code	LB119
Ages	12 up
Length	323 pages
Publisher	Harper Collins
Format	Softcover, Black and White