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__To Kill a Mockingbird__ Harper Lee

I chose this novel because I have heard a lot about it in my life. About a year ago, I had the chance to watch some of the movie. I understood the message, and thought it would be a great idea if I would read the book. I know books are noramally better than the movies. I really did not need to know any information before reading this book. I felt like I knew it pretty well. My mom loves the book, so she gave me a little backround on what the book was mainly about. Before the novel actually begins, many things happened in the lives of the Finch family. Atticus, who is a lawyer in the town of Maycomb, has been raising his kids with the help of the house keeper, Calpurnia, after his wife died of a heart attack when the children were little. Also in the small town, strange incidents happened at the Radley house which is right beside the Finch house. It is summertime in the south and the Finch children were ready for another long hot summer. The kids have nothing to do and not enough money to do anything. So they think its going to be a pretty boring summer. Dill, an interesting boy, who is a little wierd and too small for his age comes to stay with family in the neighborhood. He makes the kids summer a little more interesting. Jean Louise Finch is telling the story. Her nick name is Scout, she is the daughter of Atticus. She will be going into first grade. She has a brother who she calls Jem but his real name is Jeremy. The setting of this novel is in the deep southern county of Maycomb in Alabama. This could happen anywhere, but the story needs to be in the south because of the cotton and the prejudice people of the area. The first problem Scout excperiences is the new boy, Dill. After hearing about the crazy things people say happened and how the town blames everything bad that happens on the Radleys, he really wants to see if there is someone locked inside. He tries to get the crazy man next door to come out of his house. Dill tries to get Jem, Scouts brother to run up and bang on the door. It takes a lot of convincing, but Jem does it. Only the shutters flicker. Nothing else happens. In the beginging as I was reading this novel, it was so hard for me to read. It uses a lot of hard, unfamiliar words. I was having a very hard time getting interested in it. Although, I knew I would like it once I could get used to the writing. I became more interested in the story. I wanted to find out why the town people blame everything on the man next door. Scout also grew my attention because she is funny and her teacher always yells at her. She has a good heart, but always seems to get into trouble.