I don't have enough words to describe how much I loved this book. I should have read "To Kill a Mockingbird" much earlier because here, in the US, kids usually read it in the 10th grade, but, to be honest, I hadn't heard about this novel before I came to America. I'm really sorry that "To Kill a Mockingbird" was not included in our school program instead of one of extremely boring books we had to read; it would have made literature classes much more bearable.

For those of you who don't know, "To Kill a Mockingbird" was written by Nelle Harper Lee and became huge success, winning Pulitzer Prize in 1961. It tells a story of events happening in a fictional Alabama town, Maycomb, from the point of view of a little girl, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, whose father, Atticus Finch, is one of the few residents of the town committed to racial equality. When Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man charged with raping a white woman, he exposes himself and his family to the anger of the white community.

The reader sees all events through eyes of Scout, who tells what she saw and heard at the time and augments her narration with thoughts and assessments of her experiences in retrospect. Although she mostly tells of her own thoughts, the girl also devotes considerable time to recounting and analyzing thoughts and actions of her older brother, Jem. Throughout the book, we can clearly see how her mind matures from that of an innocent child to the mind of almost-adult, which makes the book even more interesting.

After reading all these rather heavy novels I wrote about, "To Kill a Mockingbird" was like a breath of fresh air. Its childlike, nostalgic, and often humorous tone + very interesting plot made the book a real page turner and a very easy read. The depiction of protagonist's childhood was so vivid and believable that I couldn't help but go back to my earliest memories and wish that I could experience being a kid all over again. Finally, I found the innocence of the narrator to be very appealing and believe that it will bring smile to the faces of most of the readers more than once.

This is why, if you, like me, missed on this wonderful book, I'd recommend to put it as close to the top of your reading list as possible.

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