To kill a mockingbird

Prize
Based on real events
Now is considered to be American classic

and is taught in most schools
The main themes: racial inequality and southern life, gender roles, humanism and tolerance, the ability to see the best in a human being

About the book

around the story of a black man sued for raping

a white girl
Based almost entirely on observations of the author, who herself grew up in Alabama
POV of a little girl, whose father is a lawyer defending the black man

About the plot

wasn’t successful at first and got many refusals from publishing

houses
Her first book immediately became a success, but she refused to write anything else, and “To Kill a Mockingbird” was thought to become her one and only novel until “Go Set a Watchman” appeared in 2015
Avoided publicity and didn’t like being interviewed
Died quite recently – in February 2016

About the author

and example of justice and wisdom
Missis Dubose – a lady

who is very racist and unpleasant person but, nevertheless, has some good qualities
Boo Radley – a neighbour of the girl who is very secretive and scary at first, but then appears to be a very good person

Interesting characters

from his point of view... Until you climb inside of

his skin and walk around in it.
“Atticus, he was real nice." "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.” 
- You know something, Scout? I've got it all figured out, now. I've thought about it a lot lately and I've got it figured out. There's four kinds of folks in the world. There's the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.

- Naw, Jem, I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks

Interesting quotes

at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll

go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. "Your father’s right," she said. "Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” 

Explanation of the title

gift that their friends gave to her – an amount

of money to live for a year, to write what she wanted and not to work
Lee herself thought the novel would fail
A character from the book – Dill, a little boy from neighbourhood – was based on Truman Capote
The screen version of the book won an Oscar

Interesting facts