To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. Upon its release, it was instantly successful and has become a classic of modern American fiction. The novel is loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.

The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, while still dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. Atticus Finch, the narrator's father, has served as a moral hero for many readers, and a model of integrity for lawyers. One critic explained its impact by writing, "in the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."

As a Southern gothic novel and a bildungsroman, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence, but scholars have also noted that Lee addresses the issues of class tensions, courage and compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South. The book is widely taught in schools in English-speaking countries with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been the target of various campaigns to have it removed from public classrooms. Often the book is challenged for its use of racial epithets, and writers have noticed that while white readers react favorably to the novel, black readers tend to respond less positively.

Lee's novel was initially reviewed by at least 30 different newspapers and magazines, which varied widely in their assessment of the novel. More recently, it has been ranked by librarians next to the Bible as a book "every adult should read before they die".The book was adapted into an Oscar-winning film by director Robert Mulligan, with a screenplay by Horton Foote, in 1962. In 1990 it was adapted as a play that is performed annually in Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama and has transformed the town into a tourist destination. To date, it is Lee's only published novel, and though she continues to respond to the book's impact, she has refused any personal publicity for herself or the novel since 1964.