Considered a classic, To Kill a Mockingbird  by Harper Lee, is a perennial favorite of 9th grade English teachers at Walkersville High School. It claims it is set around the trial of a Black man accused of rape: Tom Robinson. In my opinion, seventy-five percent of this book had absolutely nothing to do with the court case. When the case finally did arrive, we were already over halfway through the book, and the trial itself only lasted a few chapters. Not only that, but the trial didn’t even end well. Maybe it was meant to be a life lesson, but Robinson wasn’t given a fair verdict, and he didn’t even die in the chair; he was shot to death. This, in itself is an unsatisfying ending to what the book claims is its main plotline. After the whole thing has blown over, Lee goes back to writing about the simple, small town life that Scout lives, although some aspects of the trial linger, mainly through Bob Ewell.

Another sticking point for me is that the narrator, Scout Finch, is a child. A young girl living in 1935 with her brother, father and later on, aunt. Scout doesn’t understand everything that is going on, and therefore cannot describe what is happening to the reader. By making the narrator a child, Lee has forced the reader to see what is happening in the book through a child’s eyes. This can be frustrating, seeing as I can only be aware of what is going on by what Scout describes. For example, most of the beginning of the book is spent watching Scout, Jem, and Dill try to get her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley’s, attention. Her father mentions to her at one point when she asks where Radley is, that she will understand when she is older. Obviously, Scout isn’t older and doesn’t understand, and therefore the reader cannot either. Later, Radley does make an appearance, and it is a touching scene seeing as he saves Jem and Scout’s lives, but I felt there was just a bit too much emphasis on this mystery man that got old fast.

That is not to say this book isn’t well written. Set in a time period I have not experienced, there are many things I don’t understand that are commonplace in Scout’s life. To Kill a Mockingbird is written with care, especially around the book’s main topic, Robinson’s trial. The writing style is old fashioned in a way, and a more challenging read. I liked how this book stumped me a couple times, that I learned new vocabulary, and that I grasped a new piece of American culture. It is one of those books that I may recommend to others, not necessarily because I think it is an awesome book, but because it is a good one to say you have read. I’m happy to check this one off my list. You should too.