From the Bookshelf of JoCo Library Teens…

Mockingbird

Kathryn Erskine

Start date: March 1, 2012

Finish date: March 31, 2012

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Holden has chosen "Mockingbird" for our March group read.…more
[close] Holden has chosen "Mockingbird" for our March group read.

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By Elliott , The Awesome Mod · 2 posts · 5 views

last updated Feb 02, 2013 02:06PM

What Members Thought

Jul 23, 2012 Elliott rated it really liked it

Mockingbird was a beautiful, heart-warming book. It was written for children, but the story can definitely reach beyond that age group. The plot isn't so much of a plot as it is an emotional journey but it pulled me in and didn't let go until I finished reading it.

What I Liked

Caitlin made me happy. It's so interesting to get into her head and see how she thinks about things. She has Asperger's and it definitely affects how she sees the world and reacts to it, but as I was reading the book it b Mockingbird was a beautiful, heart-warming book. It was written for children, but the story can definitely reach beyond that age group. The plot isn't so much of a plot as it is an emotional journey but it pulled me in and didn't let go until I finished reading it.

What I Liked

Caitlin made me happy. It's so interesting to get into her head and see how she thinks about things. She has Asperger's and it definitely affects how she sees the world and reacts to it, but as I was reading the book it became a part of her. It wasn't a condition she had, it was just... who she was and that was okay. I loved that.

The relationships in this book were amazing. Everyone had such amazing chemistry (in the platonic sense of the word) and none of it felt forced or awkward to me. Michael and Caitlin were adorable together. Caitlin and her dad's relationship did an amazing job of showing how strained things were while still managing to convey the love they had for each other. And Devon sounded like the model big brother.

Aah, and the To Kill a Mockingbird references were PERFECT. They were done in such a way that younger children wouldn't be confused by them, but older readers who have read TKaM would get so much out of the symbolism and meaning behind them. I think that was my favorite part of the book.

What I Didn't Like

I really hate when people do weird stylistic things with their books. I don't feel like it adds anything to the story. It just distracts me from the book and jerks me out of the fictional world when I accidentally pay too much attention. Maybe there was a reason for having all of the dialogue in italics instead of quotation marks but it irritated me.

That being said, I think that's the only issue I had with the book. Not bad, Kathryn Erskine. Not bad. xD

Overall

I think that everyone should read this book. It's an amazing study in understand other people and learning how to empathize even when we think we don't care about anyone but ourselves. It made me laugh and it made me cry. I think that's a pretty good way to measure the quality of a book.

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