To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a delight to read. It tells the story of racial injustice in an Alabama town during the Great Depression. The narrator is a 6-year tomboyish girl who reveres her father, Atticus Finch, who serves as the book's hero waging an unwinnable battle against prejudice and racism.

The book's appeal comes from its unique perspective - that of a child trying to make sense of an adult world and slowly seeing her sibling shed his childhood. It has great warmth and character. No other book respects its hero as much, portraying him in an entirely positive and saintly light.

That being said, today some passages of the book may still grate on readers. Although the book is sympathetic to blacks, it has perhaps one too many use of the N-word and is somewhat condescending to blacks. I suppose this is a nature of the times when the book was written: People were more charitable to the idea of giving equal legal rights to blacks, but not ready to consider them as equals.

Tags: fiction, classic