Spoiler-Free Review: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Title: Go Set a Watchman

Author: Harper Lee

Publisher: HarperCollins

Year of Publication: 2015

Genre: Historical Fiction

As I've mentioned before, To Kill a Mockingbird has been my all-time favorite book since junior high school.  Needless to say, when I heard a second book by Harper Lee was being released last year, my heart skipped a beat.  I was on that pre-order list superquick.  I eagerly anticipated its arrival on my doorstep.  When I finally had it in my hot little hands, I realized quickly that while this book is still from the perspective of Scout Finch, it's not fair to call it a sequel.  Why?  Several reasons ...

First of all, Harper Lee actually wrote this book FIRST.  Her editor told her it was good, but to try writing it from a different perspective.  So she did.  And it was good.  To Kill a Mockingbird was a huge success, enabled Ms. Lee to obtain a Pulitzer Prize, and became an American classic.  

Second of all, this book, with Scout Finch twenty years older, is another book about race and civil rights in the Deep South just like TKAM- but it's not really a sequel.  Scout is very similar as far as her character traits, but Atticus is slightly darker and less heroic than he was in TKAM.  However, isn't that the case with parents?  When we're little, they're like all-knowing gods, but as we grow up and become adults, we realized they're just grown-up kids trying to figure things out like the rest of us.  I appreciate the way Atticus is shown in the different light.  No he's not the perfect Atticus we remember from Mockingbird, but his flaws as an older man make him seem even more believable character than he already was.

If you haven't read this book yet, and want to, I would recommend reading To Kill a Mockingbird first.  Even though they were written in the opposite order, read 6-year old Scout before you read about 26-year old Scout.  Yes, it's difficult to see 50-something Atticus followed by 70-something Atticus, but that's how things go.  We all have our own perspective on things, and that perspective changes as we experience and observe things.  Atticus Finch is no exception.  Make sure you keep him in context and remember that he's in the Deep South, where the racial climate was tense and difficult to navigate for those involved criminal justice and politics - like Atticus.

It's a wonderful read.  Some parts move faster than others.  I'm biased because Harper Lee is my literary idol, but since TKAM is one of those books that "everyone who reads" has read, it can't hurt to have read "that other book starring Scout Finch".  You won't regret it.

Have you read it?  What did you think?  I'd love to hear your opinions!

DISCLAIMER:  THE COMMENTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO BE SPOILER FREE!  IT'S OPEN SEASON DOWN THERE, SO BEWARE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT YET!

Spoiler-Free Review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Title: Out of the Easy
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Year of Publication: 2013
Genre: Young Adult - Historical Fiction

Out of the Easy is a beautifully written New York Times Bestseller and Carnegie Medal nominated novel by Ruta Sepetys that is set in 1950 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  I read this book with my daughters as our first "book club" book that we discussed online via Skype every Sunday for several weeks.  Our goal was to read ten chapters a week - which sounds like a lot - but Ruta likes short chapters, so ten Sepetys chapters equals two Rowling chapters.  LOL!  Plus it reads SUPER QUICK.  Reading Ruta's writing is like eating a bucket of popcorn.  You can't stop until you get to the bottom of the bucket and there's just nothing left.  I even read the Acknowledgements at the very end.  I NEVER READ THAT.  I just really didn't want it to end!

Without spoiling the book, I'll say that the plot is excellent.  The main character, Josie, is a teenager who's grown up in the French Quarter among prostitutes and tough guys due to her mother being a prostitute.  The intriguing part is that Josie is NOTHING like her wayward mother and spends a lot of time wondering who her father is.  The book holds some great characters such as the brothel madame, Willie Woodley, who is loosely based on an actual New Orleans madame during that time period.  Ruta really did her homework on this one, and as someone who LOVES New Orleans, I loved reading about Josie walking down streets I've walked down and seeing things I've seen.  To top it off, Josie lives on her own in a little room over a bookstore in the the French Quarter.  Think about that, Book People.  She lived in a room over a BOOKSTORE in the FRENCH QUARTER!  Does it get any more romantic and hip than that?  I don't think so ... 

The only thing I didn't like about the book is that there's no resolution to a big question set forth early on in the book.  I can't go into detail without spoiling something, but for those who have read the book, I think you know what I'm talking about.  There's some insinuation in the book about the answer, but no real concrete evidence to provide any closure, in my opinion.  I'd be interested to find out what those who have read it think.

Kids - I would say this is definitely something I wouldn't recommend to anyone younger than 13 just because of some of the language in the book.  As it's a young adult book, the "adult situations" that one would assume would be in a  book full of whores is actually handled with grace and discretion.  All my girls read it, but the 10-year old was a little young for some of it.  She was feeling left out and we were already too far in to stop - plus she's the third kid, so there's a degree of laissez-faire parenting going on there.  Sue me.  However, for OTHER people, I would say 13 and up - and again - it's because of language - not carnal activities.

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

DISCLAIMER:  THE COMMENTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO BE SPOILER FREE!  IT'S OPEN SEASON DOWN THERE, SO BEWARE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT YET!

Allow Me to Introduce Myself ... :) READ THIS FIRST!

Hello out there!

My name is Ms. H and I am an eighth grade writing teacher in Texas.  I decided to start this blog as a way for me to communicate and share with my bookish students who love to read, but that I don't get to spend enough time with talking about BOOKS!  I have three daughters of my own - ages 10, 13 and 16 - and they all love to read as well.  Consequently, I have recently fallen in LOVE with young adult / teen fiction - especially historical fiction as that's my favorite genre.  In fact, my all-time favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  Recently, we read a wonderful book together (that I'll discuss more in another post) despite having one daughter that lives over seas.  I bought it for her at the Houston TeenBookCon a couple months ago and had the author sign it for her.  It was so good, we decided to all read it together.  We just met on Skype every Sunday and talked about the week's chapters.  It was awesome.  We called it the "Sister Tribe Book Club", and it was the inspiration for this "online book club blog".

So my vision for this blog is for it to eventually become like an online book club.  Once I get myself organized, and there are enough followers on here, I'm going to choose a book (perhaps something recommended by one of you), then we'll set weekly reading goals and I'll put up some discussion questions each week that will help get the conversation going.  I figure we can just use the comments feature on here to communicate as a group.  We might even consider setting up a Google Hangout at some point if there's enough interest.  Possibilities!

That being said, please be mindful of other people's feelings when posting comments on my blog, or I'll have to deal with you.  Just like my classroom, I want this to be a safe place where people can have open discussions and express their opinions and thoughts without fear of judgement.  I do not tolerate rudeness, bullying or belittling.  Please keep your comments on topic and respectful.

Now I'd love it if you guys would post in the comments and tell ME a little about YOU!

What's your favorite genre of book?
What's your favorite all-time book and who write it?
Do you have any autographed books?  If so, who signed it?
Have you ever been part of a book club - either in person or online?
Anything else you want me to know about you ...?