To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book mostly about the cruel ways of racism. The book was written in 1957, but was influenced by the Scottsboro incident of 1931, when two women accused nine young black men of raping them. To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1961, and just before the Civil Rights Movement.
             The main character in the story is nine-year-old Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout, and it was written through the eyes of her. She and her brother, Jem, live with their widowed lawyer father, Atticus, in the Alabama town of Maycomb. There is also a boy named Dill, who moves to Maycomb and becomes the children's friend. The group of kids become fascinated with the Radley Place, owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, whose brother Boo Radley has lived there for years but never leaves the house. The children begin to find gifts, apparently left for them, in a knothole of a tree in the Radley's yard. They then try to sneak into the house but are caught, and Nathan Radley fills the knothole in with cement.
             Later in the story, Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson accused of raping a white woman. Atticus and his children receive much abuse because of the trial. Atticus gives clear evidence that Robinson did not rape the woman, but the all white jury convicts Tom despite the evidence; and Tom later tries to escape form prison and is shot.
             Bob Ewell, the white woman's father, feels that he was made a fool of by Atticus and vows revenge. He finally attacks Jem and Scout as they were walking home. Boo Radley intervenes, however, saving the children from Ewell, who is accidentally killed in the struggle. Boo carries the wounded Jem home and sits with Scout for awhile, but then disappears back into the Radley Place again.
             This book was completely fictional but many elements of its plot parallel real events in America's struggle over civil rights, including the Sco
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