To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

It has been ages since I read this book. It was definitely time to pick it up again. I remember liking it but I loved it so much more this time.

Scout and Jem live in Maycomb (a small southern town) in the early 1930's. They are being raised by their father Atticus and their black help Calpurnia. Atticus is a lawyer.
Scout and Jem meet Dill. A boy that moves to Maycomb every summer. They quickly become friends. They spend much of their time fixated on Boo Radley, the mysterious neighbor that never leaves his house and has become legend in their minds. The children make up skits about him, dare each other to enter his yard or peek through his windows. Once in awhile they find small gifts in a hollow tree, which they think are from Boo Radley.
As the years slip away, Scout and Jem are faced with the wrath of the small town as Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white girl. Jem is turning into a young man and he always looks to Atticus as an example. Atticus tells Jem that defending this man is something he must do in order to live with himself.
As the trial approaches the children are accosted by one time friends and neighbors. Atticus is always wise and forgiving. He makes sure that Jem and Scout do not fight to defend him and do not speak unkindly to their accusers.
The trial plays out with Jem and Scout hiding in the balcony of the courtroom. Jem has a mind for law just like Atticus. He is convinced that the evidence proves Tom (the defendant) innocent of his charges. The jury returns a guilty verdict anyway.......despite everyone seeming to know that Tom is not guilty. Jem is bewildered and crushed. He cannot understand why the people of the town would let the accusation stand.
The father of the alleged rape victim is livid with Atticus for shaming him in court. He threatens to take revenge. Atticus however does not believe his threats will ever come to fruition once the anger ebbs away.
But Mr. Ewell bides his time and attacks Atticus' children on their way home from the Halloween pageant. In a wild turn of events their lives are saved by their legendary neighbor Boo Radley. Making their wildest dreams come true.

I cannot describe the emotions evoked by this book. I can see why it is so popular. As I read, I couldn't make myself understand how anyone could ever believe the things people used to believe about race. This book is so applicable even today, whether it is about race, religion or gender.

Rating 5
Rating PG Despite the accusation of rape it was never graphically described. I would probably read this to my nine year old or let her read it herself. Hard lessons must be learned. Well worth the read.

The Pact (a love story)

The Pact (a love story) by Jodi Picoult

This is my second time through this book but I really love Jodi Picoult's way of taking twists and turns and tackling timely and touchy issues.

Chris and Em grew up in each other's pockets. Both families always expected them to eventually fall in love and get married. Their last year of high school begins and their futures seem right on track. They have been in a relationship since their early teens. They each have a bright future with their individual talents. To all eyes looking in, they seem like the perfect couple with more maturity than everyone else their age.

Then in the middle of the night their parents are awakened with a phone call sending them screaming to the local hospital. Chris is injured and Em has been killed by gun shot. What seems to be a random act of violence or an accident becomes what one family believes to be a murder and the other a suicide pact gone awry. The families of Chris and Em have been like family to each other. Now with one child dead and the other alive the neighbor's relationships are ripped to shreds.

We learn about Emily through those left behind......everyone of them telling the story of the person they thought they knew. All leading up to the terrible truth about how and why Em died.

Picoult again makes me ache for her characters. Even though this story is tragic I still feel like it was a love story. I feel for the parents and most certainly for Chris. How will they ever move beyond this pivotal moment that spun their lives in a direction they never saw coming?

Rating 4.5 A shocking emotional roller coaster. Loved it, but didn't feel as much for the parents as I did for Chris. I know I shouldn't be judging them because who knows what I will really know about my kids when they get older? But at some points in the book I really disliked the mothers, especially Em's.

Rating R Teen sex, sex, sexual abuse (which leaves me shuddering and forcing my kids to avoid public restrooms to this day), and suicide/gun violence.