Finished! 3.75/5 I really enjoy the way that Scout developed throughout the book. She began to question how the black people in the town were treating and picked up on the hypocrisy of those who denounced Hitler's prejudice of the Jewish but were themselves prejudiced against the black folks in the area. She began to reflect on the way she, Jem, and Dill had treated Boo Radley by sneaking around his yard and trying to peer in and leave notes. She went from want to make Calpurnia "pay" to wanting to get to know her better and respecting her. I felt like her character development was fantastic.
Chapter Three: Calpurnia and Atticus seem like they provide a wholesome and supportive environment for Scout and Jem. Why do kids in this time range always seem think of dying or getting injured to "get back at" adults who have "done them wrong". I'm thinking also of Tom Sawyer in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Ralphie on A Christmas Story.
Chapter eight: Not Miss Maudie's house! I'm glad no one was injured though. What a scary situation for children to experience. Miss Maudie has such an optimistic perspective, though. I hope she's able to get the yard and garden she wants.
Chapter nineteen: I love that Dill was bothered by the way Tom was treated in the cross examination and spoke up to Scout about it after they left the courthouse.
I lowered the rating because it drew on a bit long for me, at least the filler parts. I believe that Harper Lee was setting up the environment and family dynamics and town dynamics, but the day to day playing and school activities that were tangential to the plot were a bit too much. Also, in general I felt like Atticus was a great parent figure and he had seemed very supportive of Scout and then when they got to talking about the jury they all kind of laughed about how ridiculous the concept of a woman juror was. That really irked me. He was very supportive of the rights of men of all colors but I guess women don't count in his mind.