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One Book, One Denver 2009
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Place a hold on To Kill a Mockingbird now! Reader's Guide
About the Book
Place a Hold for To Kill a Mockingbird

Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus -- three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.

Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well -- in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations and deserves to be reread often.

Other Media Types
Book on CD
Large Print
Libro en español
Cliffs Notes
Bloom's Notes - eBook
DVD (feature film adaptation)

   
About the Author
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville Alabama, which produced two world-renowned authors in the same generation. Harper Lee was the grade school classmate of the young Truman Capote, with whom she maintained a friendship well into adulthood. (In 1966 Capote dedicated In Cold Blood to her). The youngest of four children of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee, Harper attended Huntingdon College 1944-45, studied law at University of Alabama 1945-49, and spent a year at Oxford University. In the 1950s she moved to New York City where, after working briefly as an airline reservation clerk, she decided to focus exclusively on her writing. She moved into a cold-water flat and began writing To Kill a Mockingbird. In 1957 she submitted the manuscript to the J. B. Lippincott Company and was told that her novel read too much like a series of loosely connected short stories. She spent the next two and a half years revising the book and in 1960 it was published to widespread acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize and thousands of devoted readers.

More on Harper Lee may be found in the Library's book databases.
Harper Lee
   
Book Discussion Schedule

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Arthur Jones, founder and co-chair of the Spirituals Project and Senior Clinical Professor of Psychology at the University of Denver as guest host of three discussions of To Kill a Mockingbird. Bring your thoughts and opinions to exchange with each other and this innovative thinker and community leader. These special events are presented by Colorado Humanities and Center for the Book, and are noted below.

Central Library
Gates Conference Room, Level 5
Tuesday, September 29, 6 - 7 p.m.
Thursday, October 15, 12 noon - 1 p.m. Colorado Humanities Discussion with Art Jones.

Athmar Park Branch Library - Teens Only
Saturday, October 3, 11 a.m. - 12 noon

Bear Valley Branch Library
Thursday, October 8, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Blair-Caldwell African American
Research Library

Saturday, September 19, 10 - 11 a.m.

Byers Branch Library
Saturday, October 3, 10 - 11 a.m.

Decker Branch Library
Saturday, October 3, 3 - 4 p.m.

Eugene Field Branch Library
Thursday, September 24, 7 - 8 p.m.

Ford-Warren Branch Library
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 5 - 6 p.m.

Hadley Branch Library
Wednesday, September 23, 12 noon - 1 p.m.

Hampden Branch Library - Spanish
Wednesday, October 21, 5 - 6 p.m.
  Montbello Branch Library
Wednesday, September 30, 12 noon - 1 p.m.

Park Hill Branch Library
Saturday, October 10, 2 - 3 p.m. Colorado Humanities Discussion with Art Jones

Pauline Robinson Branch Library
Saturday, September 5, 12 noon - 1 p.m.

Ross-Barnum Branch Library
- Spanish
Saturday, October 10, 1 - 2 p.m.

Ross-Broadway Branch Library

Tuesday, September 1, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Ross-University Hills Branch Library

Thursday, October 1, 6 - 7 p.m.

Schlessman Family Branch Library
Thursday, October 8, 2 - 3 p.m. Colorado Humanities Discussion with Art Jones

Smiley Branch Library
Wednesday, October 7, 7 - 8 p.m.

Virginia Village Branch Library
Wednesday, October 14, 6:30 - 7:45 p.m.

Westwood Branch Library
Monday, September 14, 2 - 3 p.m.
 
One Book, One Denver Highlights


More One Book, One Denver at the Denver Public Library

Never Kill a Mockingbird – This Year’s Café Nuba Slam
Monday, October 26, 7 p.m.
Central Library - Level B2 Conference Center
"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird." Come listen to some of the best Slam Poets in the world compete for the Café Nuba slam title – and make sure that all voices are here for us to enjoy. Presented by Fresh City Life and Café Nuba.

Book Club in a Bag
Available at any Denver Public Library branch location.
Book Club in a Bag by the numbers: 1 tote, 8 copies of To Kill A Mockingbird, 8 Readers Guides and 1 fantastic book club!

One Book, One Denver for Teens.

One Book, One Denver Around Denver

Many other events are planned around the City and are free and open to the public on a first come, first served basis. Reservations are required for some evnts. Please visit the City of Denver's One Book, One Denver page for a complete list of events.

FILM:
One Book, Many Films: The Verdict is ENTERTAINMENT!
Courtroom films at the Tivoli.

CRAFTING:
Boo Radley’s School of Sewing
Thursdays, September 24 or October 15, 7 - 8:30 p.m.

To Felt a Mockingbird
Saturday, October 24, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m.

FOOD:
Calpurnia and Miss Maudie Atkinson’s School of Baking
Fridays, September 18 & 25, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

WRITING:
One Book, One Denver Teen Fiction Contest
Entry deadline: Postmarked by Monday, October 19

Writing Your First Novel with William Haywood Henderson
Saturday, September 12, 10 a.m - 12 noon

LISTEN:
Shifting Sands: A Musical Evocation of To Kill a Mockingbird
Thursday, October 22, 7 p.m.

Radio Drama
September 30, October 7, 14, 21. All programs at 6:30 p.m.


Other Helpful Resources

One Book, One Denver for Teens

Reader's Guide

 

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Updated: September 03, 2009