I am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee (2008) - Charles J. Shields

I am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee (2008) – Charles J. Shields

Henry Holt and Co., 212 pages, ISBN 9780805083347

(photo credit: www.goodreads.com)

Awards: 

American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults

Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year

Arizona Grand Canyon Young Readers Master List

Annotation: Shields chronicles the life and literary career of one of America’s most famous novelists, Harper Lee.

Review: She only wrote one book, but in over 50 years it’s never gone out of print. It also won the Pulitzer Prize and has been a mainstay on high school reading lists for decades. The book is, of course, Harper Lee’s To Kill and Mockingbird, and I am Scout is Lee’s story. 

Shields paints the young Nelle Lee, from Monroeville, Alabama, as wild, rebellious, and set apart from other girls. This rebelliousness led not only to a close (but tenuous) friendship with fellow writer Truman Capote, but also provided the impetus to write a stunning novel which forced the world to take notice about the racial injustices in America. Lee, a fiercely private person, was completely unprepared for the non-stop media attention caused by the success of her novel. Did she ever write another novel? Did she ever embrace the media limelight? What did she really think about the successes of her friend Truman Capote? To find the answers, read I am Scout.