To Kill A Mockingbird

There are several books that I read in high school that I still consider favourites: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Othello by William Shakespeare, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence (just to name a few). But the one that started it all (Grade 9 English - thank you Mr Bedford!) was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. That book opened my heart...It's the first book that I remember brought tears to my eyes. I had an emotional connection to it.

It was like visiting an old friend. I laughed and cried, and cried some more, but at the end I had a huge smile on my face. Scout tells the story so beautifully through the eyes of a child that sees more than what adults think. To grow up in such a time must have been a wondrous experience, you have the simplicity of life, but also the ugliness of social and racial injustice. But somehow this little girl has the ability to see the good in people and situations, and has no qualms about it. She is my favourite character of the book. And Boo rocks!

And after so many years, I happy to say that I still have that connection to To Kill A Mickingbird.

I hate to admit this nut this is one book I don't have in my collection, but that will soon be remedied. It's on the shopping list.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (5/5) Classic Fiction; Published: J.B. Lippincott & Co. (7/1960); Pulitzer Prize Winner (1961); 2009 100 + Reading Challenge (54); 2009 Support Your Local Library (49); Book Awards II (6); Spring Reading Thing 2009 (4); Celebrate The Author (4);