A Children's Book that Made a Difference in My Life

I'm not necessarily sure that To Kill a Mockingbird is considered a children's book, but it has made a profound difference in my life.  To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1960s novel written by Harper Lee that focuses on a Southern family during the Great Depression.  It is narrated by 6-year-old Scout Finch, who is able to discuss serious issues like rape and racial inequality with humor and warmth.  In the novel, Scout's father, Atticus is a lawyer that defends an African American man, Tom Robinson, who charged for raping a young Southern girl.  Scout and her brother Jem are teased for their father's actions.  Although it is clear that Tom is innocent, the jury finds him guilty and he dies trying to escape from prison.

I was a little older than Scout, 12-years-old, when I first read To Kill a Mockingbird, but I didn't completely understand it.  The novel deals with serious issues, including rape, racial inequality, gender roles, class, and a loss of innocence.  When I first read the novel, I didn't even understand what rape was and the context of life in the South during the 60s.  To Kill a Mockingbird was taught in my 7th grade literature class, which helped me understand the book’s historical perspective.  But it was also a place I could discuss other themes in the novel that I didn't understand.  I was particularly disgusted by the racial inequality in the novel.  To Kill a Mockingbird truly changed outlook towards life and my attitudes towards others.

Since the first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird with my 7th grade class, I've reread it numerous times.  For me, the novel helps me evaluate what is fair, compassionate, honest, and true-- and what it's like to be a moral person that carries herself with integrity.  And even though I didn't completely understand the serious issues being addressed in the novel the first time I read it, I still felt deeply saddened and enraged by the injustices that I had not necessarily encountered in the world.  It was the first book that set me on a path to oppose racism and other injustices.

My First Recollection of Reading a Children's Book

Prior to my Third Grade, I never enjoyed reading.  I felt that my classmates sounded much better than I did when reading aloud.  Even at home, I was too distracted to read.  One of my earliest memories of reading a children’s book was in the Third Grade when I came across the Ramona Collection by Beverly Cleary.  The Ramona Collection was a collection of books that I actually liked reading.  I still remember the scene in Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in which she cracks a raw egg on her head because she thought it was a hard-boiled egg.  Ramona was a relatable character to my eight-year-old self and someone I could easily see as a friend in real life.  I was easily entertained by her humor and adventures.  And today, I greatly attribute the Ramona Collection to my interest in books as a child.

To relate this a little to the class reading, Chapter 1 of Getting Beyond “I Like the Book” by Vivian Vasquez, I believe that the Ramona Collection played a crucial role in my elementary education because it peaked my interest in literature.  Looking back however, Ramona’s reality represents a Western culture.  I’m a little conflicted because I’m not confident Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is a book that could be taught in the classroom today.  Today, our classrooms are more diverse and some students might not be able to see themselves in Ramona’s reality.  But Ramona has experiences that I think all children can relate to, like the first day of school, feeling the need to please parents and teachers, sibling rivalry, and making new friends.  So I question if the Ramona Collection is a book that could relate to culturally diverse students.