Book 1 out of 5 : To Kill A Mocking Bird

One of my personal requirements for the UBBT was to read 5 books that have an impact on me and to tell a little something about each book on my blog. Reading books for me is easy; I read a lot of books. Each book impacts me in a way, but when I made this requirement, I wanted to make it clear that I would be picking books that I know will make an impact on me before I read them.My mom ordered this book for me through the Scholastic book order when I was in grade 7. I think her exact words were "I want you to read this. It's a good book." Needless to say, the book sat on my shelf for 3 years untouched, just another dust collector. I didn't pick it up until we did it for a novel study in my English Honours class a couple months ago. But, the novel study was really rushed and still, I didn't get a lot out of it. It wasn't until I recently picked it up and read it cover to cover in about 4 days that I realized the huge impact it had on me.

First of all,

I loved the way this book was written through the eyes of a child. Out of the many books that I have read that shared this perspective, Harper Lee did an extremely good job of bringing out the innocence of a child towards the events in this book, but she also balanced in the more pressing issues that were talked about in a more adult tone.

Second,

Harper Lee teaches her audience about the issues that were faced towards racial intolerance and prejudice in the "Old South." But she also throws in many small, rich lessons in the mix. My favorite part of the book was the Tom Robinson trial. Although it was extremely dark, it definitely brought out the ugliness of racism. This is one of the few books that I have read that have not "turned a blind eye" towards how extreme racism used to be, and unfortunately in some cases, still is.

Lee also shows us the quick and judgemental nature of humans by using the character Boo Radley. We see how easy it is to misjudge and label people because they are different then us. I know that I have done it even though I know that it is wrong, and I'm sure that a lot of others have done it as well. In the book, we see how the impact and the actions of adults rub off on their children. All of the kids are afraid of him because he is different from them. Is it fair that we still do this everyday as a society? No, of course it isn't, and sometimes it isn't something that we can help. We've been doing it ever since we've been in preschool. We just don't see the impact that it has on others.

I loved this book, and it is one that I will for sure be reading again and again because I know that each time that I read it, I will get something new out of it. One last thing that this book taught me was that you should keep reading a book, even though you don't understand the first chapter... You might miss out on something amazing if you don't =)

(The quote below is important to me because it was the part of the book that made my cry... Yes... I'm a sap for these things...)

"When I pointed to him his palms slipped slightly, leaving greasy
sweatstreaks on the wall, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt. A strange
smallspasm shook him, as if he heard fingernails scrape slate, but as I gazed
athim in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted intoa
timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears.
“Hey, Boo,” I said."