Never Kill a Mockingbird

Hi Everyone!

I hope life is treating you well ;o) In honor of Banned Books Week, I'm going to re-post my entry from last year! I'm still in revision purgatory, but I can see the light!! I'll be back soon. xxoo

Have a great week ;o) <3<3 Er


Hi Everyone!

I was all set to write in my MS tonight. I had it all planned. But, I can't let banned-books week go by without saying how I feel about it and censorship in general. And to tell a tale of one lowly high school freshman...

If you want to see ALA's list of Top 100 Banned/Challenged books '00-'09 Check it out Here I'll wait... *checks email, facebook, twitter*

Yeah. Unbelievable, right?

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee is on that list. So is THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger, another that changed me.

But. Today I'm going to talk about my love for a mockingbird and a father who shows that man can be brave, even when, alone in his convictions.

Quick blurb in case you haven't read it yet...

"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." - Amazon.com Review.

You know, I read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school. I didn't read a lot then. In fact, *gasp* I didn't really like books that much. I wasn't a book person. I know. Awful right?

So when we were assigned to read it my freshman year... my thoughts were, "What the heck is a Mockingbird? and why do I have to read about not killing it."

I know. I was not the quickest fork in the drawer.

So. I read it. Holy shabangawoo. I loved it. I learned something too. Yay!

It was the beginning of me learning about injustice and the heart of man, the bravery of one against many, the wrong in the world. It made me start to ask questions of myself, of the people around me.

I began to understand the Mockingbird and how it's a symbol.

So. When I think about censorship, and of that book in particular. I think. How tragic it would have been if my school didn't have that book to give me. And about the lessons I would have lost, and the wonderful words of Harper Lee's I would have missed out on.

Censorship is about taking the right to choose away from you.

Look at the list. Read them. Learn. Ask questions.

Speak Loudly.

Have a great weekend!