My take on: To Kill a Mockingbird

I'm not sure how I made it through grade school, undergrad, and graduate school without reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. . .but I did! I'm pretty sure it was assigned once as summer reading in eighth or ninth grade, but I'm also pretty sure I pretended to read it. I wasn't as into reading then as I am now. When the opportunity presented itself to review the graphic novel adaptation, by Fred Fordham, I jumped at the chance.

This is one of those classic books that I feel out of the loop on. I know the basic story. Scout's father, Atticus Finch, defends a black man against a rape charge in the deep south during the 1930s. And that's all I knew.

I'm not going to rehash all of the details of this book because I think that's been done for decades. I'm just going to focus on my thoughts on the overall story and the illustrations.

My No. 1 thought? Given the current political climate, reading this book illustrated, for me, that not a lot has changed. Black men were feared in the 1930s, and that is still the case in many places throughout the world. Women who are strong, independent, or have a different way of thinking than the status quo are feared or seen as weird. Scout definitely embodies those qualities. She wants to be accepted as one of the boys even if they don't accept her. Scout challenges just about every person she interacts with, even her own father. She's more perceptive than people give her credit for.

As a graphic novel this has it's pluses and minuses. The illustrations are a little basic, not very vivid. What's the right word? The illustrations weren't "popping" for me. I read a galley without the full color illustrations, but I don't think color would have changed my opinion. It felt like something was missing, and maybe that's because some context from the original novel couldn't fully translate to the illustrated format. However some of the illustrations did work for me. The courtroom scenes are where the illustrations actually start to get good. I think Fred Fordham did a good job of showing the tension in the courtroom. The witnesses, especially the alleged "victim", go through a range of emotions, and I saw that clearly through the illustrations.

The graphic novel edition has some shining moments, but I think I need to read the original book to get the full context/experience.

Rating: Give it a try

Note: I received a copy of the book from the publisher (HarperCollins) in exchange for an honest review.