Comprised of a series of essays from a variety of sources who provide insights into this Pulitzer Prize one-hit wonder of Harper Lee's, I savored each and every page.

While not all essays were complimentary of the book, even those provided keen comprehension of the themes and features.

I could go on and on and on about the wonderment of this book, but suffice it to say it was well worth the time spent.

The well written essays provided insight into a book written about a bigoted Alabama small town during the 1930's. Harper Lee wrote from the perspective of a grown woman who is now looking back at a very turbulent time when she was six years old. IMHO, no one has ever come close to tackling the complex issues contained in To Kill a Mockingbird. And since I read the book 42 years ago, having since read thousands of others, To Kill a Mockingbird still remains my all-time favorite.

This Greenhaven Press Literary Companion book focuses on the main themes of To Kill a Mockingbird

. the hero figure of Atticus Finch, lawyer father of Scout Finch who was six years old when her father defended a black man wrongly accused of raping a poverty stricken white woman. Atticus went into the defense knowing he could not win, but believing that all men should in deed be treated as the constitution states -- equal before the law!

. the necessity of walking in someone's shoes and the spiritual life-changing experience that occurs when one is able to do so

. the strong characters of Boo Radley (the recluse the town deemed "crazy") and Tom Robinson a black man who simply tried to do good by helping a white woman who then wrongfully accused him and in the end he paid with his life. The townsfolk had definite opinions of success and keeping people in their place.

. the fact that doing the right thing does not always equate to reward, and in fact, just the opposite can occur and one may indeed pay a very high price for good deeds.

. the beautiful analogy Harper Lee chose in the admonition Atticus gave to his children that to kill a mockingbird was a sin because the bird did no harm to others and simply provided joy. There is a strong image of killing a mockingbird, of bruising something beautiful and creating a tragedy of sad brokenness. The author equates both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson to Mockingbirds.

. way ahead of her time, Harper Lee, portrayed the strength of the female in society who pays a high price for being different, for being a tom boy, for not possessing southern belle qualities, who is strong, comfortable and sure of herself despite intense criticism.

. in writing a miraculous book during the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, Harper Lee did indeed take an incredible risk. Basing the morally and ethically driven character of Atticus Finch on her real life father, on marvelously crafting the tale of Boo Radley, who was marginalized by society because he did not choose to be a part of it and was deemed crazy, and then Lee's brave attempt to make a very bigoted America look at the injustice perpetrated on blacks in America and in particularly on innocent Tom Robinson, she gave America much needed heroes.

Depicting the narrow, cold, cruel, ignorant world of injustice, hatred, bigotry and violence seen through the eyes of a precocious young woman, who grew to abhor hypocrisy, and to adore her father who was a man of values in a valueless society, Harper Lee masterfully crafted a story regarding the beauty of those who do the right thing, simply because it is right to do while focusing first and foremost on the pain of ignorance, misunderstanding, hatred and injustice that is a human condition that sadly still exists today.

HIGHLY recommended ( )