To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Book Discussion at Joppa

Joppa's Evening Book discussion group had a great discussion on January 24th of To Kill a Mockingbird. Find this book in our catalog. These are the jacket notes for the book: "The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic. Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior-to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 15 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature."

For this meeting, this moderator was very glad to welcome a male to the group. We hope he will be back because he was such a great participant! We would like to extend an invitation to all male readers: our group is not exclusively female, and we try to select books to discuss with a range of appeal.

Everyone agreed that Harper Lee's book is a great American classic, and discussed the different characters and events which occurred in the book. One member grew up in Virginia when many of the things portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird were still going on. The group also spoke of the 60's when so much happened to change the lives of African Americans. Another attendee worked in Baltimore after Martin Luther King was assassinated and experienced going to work when the National Guard were patrolling downtown. Another person who attended seldom or never viewed the terrible treatment of African Americans because she grew up in The North in New Jersey. The moderator was in elementary school in the 60's living in Pennsylvania. She recalled the views of the adults around her, and of her community, which hired African Americans to work in the local orchards and did not properly respect those temporary workers. So much has changed since this book was published for the better. This was one of our best discussions ever! Joppa Book Group Moderator.

Further Reading:

Publisher's reader's guide to To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee biography

Harper Lee wins Presidential Medal of Freedom

An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther Kingby William F. Pepper
Find this book in our catalog.