Book appropriate for age?

My son was assigned the book in 7th grade and was okay with it, but it certainly does have a very mature subject matter. Perhaps your son could watch the movie to help cement the characters and events in his mind. Its a really great movie =).

Andrea

My son read this last year, 8th grade (13), he also had difficulty with it. Andereas suggestion to have him watch the movie is a ggreat one, it really helped my son. He did enjoy the story once the movie helped him to make sense of all the goings on. Hope this helps.

Thanks, the movie is a great idea!

AC wrote:
>
> My son who is 13 1/2 has been assigned “To Kill a
> Mockingbird” this quarter. I think the book is wonderful,
> but, in reading through it again, it seems really advanced
> for a middle schooler. He has read the first four chapters
> and is totally overwhelmed by all the characters, details,
> history, etc. Any opinions?

I agree with you but we’re in the minority. This book is commonly used in middle school. I had to read the book outloud to my 8th grade son and there was a sentence in that book that I simply could not understand myself.

Nevertheless, it’s a great book and some of my students have spoken highly of it but as I read it with my son, I thought it more appropriate for high schoolers than middle school.

Some people cringe at the idea but I always suggest to parents and students alike that they not be afraid to use the Cliff Notes. (Actually I like Monarch Notes much, much better than the old Cliff Notes) Also, don’t be afraid to have him watch the film first. (even if he watches it in school later) The film is fairly true to the book and the film is as highly regarded as the book. Seeing the film may help him to keep the details and characters of the book straight.

Good luck.

Thanks, I’m glad someone agrees with me. When I looked at some of the test questions the teacher is asking, I wonder why they even bother to assign the book. For example: “What does Atticus shoot?” Talk about quenching any joy in reading…

I loved this book — but didn’t study it until Grade 11. I personally feel this is more than a bit advanced for Gr. 8!

I HATE that kind of question — cuz altho I could discuss the imagery, symbolism, and pure wonder of every word Harper Lee wrote, I was UNABLE to remember facts like this! “What kind of flower did Jem cut off Miz Dubose’ bushes???” I was so angry at losing out on a good mark and also getting a snitty comment cuz I didn’t know that SO important fact — never mind the THEME or the MESSAGE, which is one we all need as badly in 2003 as they did in 1963! (and even tho I got all the important ‘meat’ from the book, and have probably read it 100 x, I STILL have to look up the name of those dang flowers if I want to get it right!)

I’d have your son read for the message, and ignore the details if he can. What do the words make him FEEL? (easier said than done for boys, I know!)

I also second having him watch the movie — it shows the important scenes, and might help him understand why this is an important book for ALL humans to study…best wishes to your son that he be able to understand WHY it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird, as well as how that connects to WHY Rosa Parks did what she did…whether he can remember Maycomb factoids or not!

My question would be what level of English class is this? My son had to read this book at the beginning of 9th grade for his Honors English class. Over the summer the Honors students had to read “Les Miserables” (a condensed version, but still huge!) and then moved right into “Mockingbird”. They have done a tremendous amount of reading in this class!

As others have noted, I encouraged my son to watch the movies and read the Cliff notes of the books. I think the Cliff notes are a handy ways to get the basic elements of the story, then you read the real book to get the details. Movies are useful too, unless they change the story around too much and just end up confusing the student!