Who's read To Kill a Mockingbird? - I need some help guys!

jcc64 wrote: I have to write a teaching unit on this old classic- geared toward your typical 9th grade English student. I LOVED the book as a kid, just re-read it and still love it. I'm wondering for those of you who also read it, what were your impressions? Did you like it or not, and why?
And if a teacher asked you to recall the first moment when you became aware of racism, do you think you'd be able to remember it?
Thanks for being my "guinea pigs" guys.

cameragirl21 replied: omg, I loved that book, I had to read it in 8th grade and I couldn't put it down...I got in trouble for reading it in science class...the teacher saw me reading and told me to put the book down so I did and the second she turned her back I pulled it back out, she got SO mad at me and I didn't even care, I just wanted to keep reading, that was one of the best books ever.
As for when I first encountered racism, that's hard to say. I went to JCC (Jewish community center) day camp during the summers as a kid and there were mostly white kids, most Jewish but some non Jewish but from generally upper middle class homes. One summer, when I was 8, my parents decided to put me in YWCA camp downtown because they worked downtown so it was easier for them to transport me to and from camp and it was definitely a mixed race camp and I was one of only 2 Jewish kids and the only kid from the better suburbs as opposed to the city itself.
I thought it was fine, didn't bother me a bit till one black girl told me that one of my white friends told her that blacks are poor. I was stunned, had never thought about it that way and didn't understand why she said that. That is my earliest memory of alleged racism, that I can think of anyway.

ZandersMama replied: I loved that book! I was first aware of racism in jr. high, there was only one black student and everyone was horrible to him, called him horrible things one of my biggest regrets is that i never became friends with him, he passed away in an accident shortly after graduation and i've always felt horrible that i never pushed for friendship. he was a very lonely person.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Loved it. I read it in elementary school though, long before I had to read it for class.

I remember it was when I first moved to Ottawa from the Toronto Region... I should specify, from a tiny military base near Toronto called Borden where there were virtually no other skin color other than white... except we lived on the edge of the base, there was a forest behind our house.. and my mother told me to never go in the forest and to stay in the yard because there were bears..and my father added "and indians, too."

I'm 5th generation Indian.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: This is my ALL TIME favorite book. Hands down. I love everything about it. The suspense (literally nail biting on the night of the play, when Boo Radley saves Scout and Jem in the woods.)

The first time I became aware of racism was in 4th grade (age 9.)

luvmykids replied: The first time I was really aware of racism was at the end of 8th grade when I was switching to a public school known for it's low percentage of whites....all my friends were telling me horrible things about the school because of the other races, mostly Mexican. I'm sure I'd been exposed to it at some point sooner, but that is when it struck me as possible for people to judge someone based on race.

I read the book and liked it, my freshman year of high school.

mckayleesmom replied: I loved that book also.


The first time I was aware of racism was when I was about 8 and my older sister had a high school dance coming up. She got asked to go by a hispanic friend of hers and I remember her asking my mom if she would have a problem with it. My mom told her that she would have a problem if she didn't. Apparently some of her friends had told her that our parents would probably be ticked when they found out.

jem0622 replied: Wikipedia has some really good info if you look up by the book title. Gives you themes. IMHO, I would not focus on racism. I might word it differently. Racial indifference, or inbalance, maybe. I know it is hard due to some of the language in the book.

I did not read this book. I would probably appreciate and understand it more now than at a younger age. I was a minority in my high school and that did not bother me at all...but I knew I was a minority.

GL with your class!

jcc64 replied:

Thanks for all of your input guys. I have to point out in response to the post above that the book is explicitly about racism, as seen through the eyes of a little girl. There is no other gentler, more euphemistic term for it. If you ever get around to reading it, you'll see what I mean.
Again, thanks all!

webby replied: i enjoyed that book. i liked it because it teaches people not to judge others before getting to know them (with boo radley and jem and scout) which sadly people do too often

jem0622 replied:

You think racism is a gentle word? I think quite the opposite.
I do hope the class goes well.

jcc64 replied:
We're having a semantic misunderstanding, I think.
No, I don't think racism is a gentle word. I was trying to say that there is no polite substitution for racism, either linguistically or conceptually--it is what it is, and it's what the book is all about.