Author+Study

**Description** Harper lee whom wrote //To Kill A Mocking Bird// wrote from a personal experience of growing up in the 30's through very prejudice times and as segregation was the norm. **Accomplishments**

Harper Lee graduated from high school and study at the University of Alabama almost completed her degree to become a lawyer before she withdrew and decided to pursue a new career. Lee's greatest achievement was, of course, her award-winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Published July 11, 1960, the novel became an immediate best seller. It was named best novel of the year in 1999 in a poll by the Library Journal. Consistently, TKAMB is on countless lists of top 50 books of all time. It even won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, shortly after just one year of being published. Harper Lee's life achievements are described to have "revolutionized American literature, and demonstrated how racial injustices were common in the 1930’s." Lee has been, herself, recognized by many important people in society. President Johnson named her to the National Council on the Arts and President George W. Bush awarded her with the prestiguous Presidential Medal of Freedom for her "especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

// Tom Robinson // = **__Other__** __Works__ = // Atticus // Harper Lee wrote other books after // To Kill a Mockingbird. // In 1961, she wrote // Love- In Other Words //. Also in 1961 she wrote // Christmas to Me. // In August of 1965 she wrote // When Children Discover America // and much later in 1983 she wrote a paper // Romance and High Adventure // which was presented in Eufalula, Alabama and collected in the anthology // Clearings in the Thicket // in 1985. = **__Critics' Views__** = __"To Kill a Mockingbird__ is a literature mosaic. There is not a beginning, middle, or end to this story but rather a snapshot of life. Early in the book the picture of a small Alabama town in 1935 is painted for the reader. It’s a reminder that the world was once a simple place as it eases the reader into the mind of an 8-year-old girl. They make friends with her big brother, Jem and find comfort in the arms of her father, Atticus. They’re haunted by her fears and teased by her curiosities of the Radley’s house. But soon the silky, calm pond of childhood is shattered by the impact of racism and the ripples of lessons learned courses through the water. Internal battles occupy their minds as they watch the external battles play out in there once-so-peaceful town. Overall, this book deserves a perfect, 5 star rating. This is a must-read classic. To Kill a Mockingbird is timeless and captivating from the first word to the last." "I read this book a long time ago, when I was ten years old. I remembered nothing from it except thinking it was really, really good. And here I am, thirteen years later. I picked it up again because I was curious about what my reaction would be to it now.The book follows three years in the life of Scout Finch, her brother Jem, their father Atticus, and their fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the era of the Great Depression. The first half of the novel focuses mainly on Scout and Jem's childhood. I read this book a long time ago, when I was ten years old. I remembered nothing from it except thinking it was really, really good. And here I am, thirteen years later. I picked it up again because I was curious about what my reaction would be to it now.The book follows three years in the life of Scout Finch, her brother Jem, their father Atticus, and their fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the era of the Great Depression. The first half of the novel focuses mainly on Scout and Jem's childhood - their friend Dill, their fixation on their neighbor "Boo" Radley, and their experiences at school. The second part of the book is marked both by the ongoing trial of a black man accused of raping a white woman, whom Atticus has been called to defend, and the repercussions this trial has on the children's eventual coming of age.I loved this book. Both parts of the book are very well-done, and although each seems to be separate at first, Lee does a great job of weaving in themes from the first into the second. The children have very child-like perspectives. They do not seem adult beyond their years. Every character - particularly each of the Finches - is distinctive. I liked how Atticus shows depth. He is not heroic simply because of who he is defending as an attorney but his entire outlook on the case and its significance to his family and career. This book seems so simple, but it's about several things at once - racism, injustice, social status, innocence, accusation, and experience. I feel like I had a million things I wanted to say about this book, but I can't remember half of what they were, mostly because the copy I had was from the library and I had to return it. Let me just say this: wow. And also, this is going to the top of my very short "must-buy" list. I may even buy two copies - one to highlight in, and one just to keep."
 * ** The Immortal Novel **, Member KaylaHendrickson
 * Mona

If the total output of your entire career should include only one thing, make it something special. Not only was //To Kill a Mockingbird// Harper Lee's only novel, at one point she nearly destroyed it. That would have been a terrible loss, for - coming from an insular, white-New England upbringing - this book was a game changer for me and my young outlook on life and race relations. If the total output of your entire career should include only one thing, make it something special. Not only was //To Kill a Mockingbird// Harper Lee's only novel, at one point she nearly destroyed it. That would have been a terrible loss, for - coming from an insular, white-New England upbringing - this book was a game changer for me and my young outlook on life and race relations. Having read it as a youth, it's coming-of-age or loss-of-innocence theme spoke to me while the idea of equal rights for all held by the "liberal" Southern Atticus Finch seemed heroic and opened my eyes to the closeted bigotry around me. I know I'm not alone in my reaction and the effects it had upon me.Perhaps Lee didn't write another novel, because she took to heart the maxim "write what you know" and this was the one and only novel within her. It seems a shame such a good writer should be judged by only one book, but at least she made that one book something special.
 * Jason Koivu

"*Reaction to when I read this as a freshman in high school*After my second read-through of the novel (some parts independently and some parts at school) I've really realized just how amazing this book is. I actually got teary-eyed quite a few times. Lee infuses tremendous writing technique with a story so real, raw, and damaging that it just left me irreversibly changed. There is no question why schools teach lessons with this novel; it's just... amazing. My heart is still aching and rooting for more. *Reaction to when I read this as a freshman in high school*After my second read-through of the novel (some parts independently and some parts at school) I've really realized just how amazing this book is. I actually got teary-eyed quite a few times. Lee infuses tremendous writing technique with a story so real, raw, and damaging that it just left me irreversibly changed. There is no question why schools teach lessons with this novel; it's just... amazing. My heart is still aching and rooting for the characters in this novel as well, they will stay with me for a long time. *A year later, as a sophomore*Absolutely riveting. One of my favorite classics."
 * Thomas

""To Kill a Mockingbird" is a time capsule, preserving hopes and sentiments from a kinder, gentler, more naive America. It was released in December 1962, the last month of the last year of the complacency of the postwar years. The following November, John F. Kennedy would be assassinated. Nothing would ever be the same again -- not after the deaths of Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, not after the war in Vietnam, certainly not after September 11, 2001. The most hopeful development during that period for America was the civil rights movement, which dealt a series of legal and moral blows to racism. But "To Kill a Mockingbird," set in Maycomb, Alabama, in 1932, uses the realities of its time only as a backdrop for the portrait of a brave white liberal. " = **By: Scout Finch** = = **Time Period** = In the 1930s, segregation was still around and we were still in a depression. Harper Lee lived through this and used these experiences to help write her book. The depression can be seen in Mr. Ewell who does not have a job and must live on welfare. Segregation can be seen in how Tom Robinson is treated by the people in Maycomb. These are both in her book because it also took place in the 1930s. Harper Lee lived through WWII in the 1940s, through the Cold War in the 1950s, and also the civil rights movement for blacks and women in the 1960s. These are a few of the times that Harper Lee lived through. Her book, __To Kill a Mockingbird__, was only set in the 1930's and so was heavily influenced by her childhood. by "Boo Radley" include component="pagelist" homeAtTop="true"
 * **BY ROGER EBERT /** November 11, 2001