Where Does this Book Fit?


K: Where does this book [To Kill a Mockingbird] fit in the scheme of all the other books you’ve read?


Z: Probably the best because everybody who reads this book mostly have read it, even the people who are forced to read books probably read it.

K: What makes it the best?

Z: The storyline and the development of the storyline. It all makes sense. It all ties to the title. Tom is the mockingbird. Mockingbirds never do anything. The guy who wrote that editorial said it was a sin to kill cripples. The guy [the character who wrote the editorial, Mr. Underwood] was defending him [Tom]. It’s hard to compare this book to more modern ones because this book is about what happened when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president.

K: Is anybody else a mockingbird in the book?

Z: I don’t think so. Tom is the only one that justifies why that title is what it is.

K: I’m going to see if you change your mind after you read tomorrow.


A few minutes later K hears a small, distant voice.


Z: Are you reading any books right now?

K: Yes, I’m reading The Joy Luck Club and Strange Parents.

Z laughs.

Z: Good night, Mom.

K: Good night, Za’id.