In Other Words: To Kill a Mockingbird

This year’s Big Read is being sponsored by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in conjunction with their production of To Kill a Mockingbird, which runs from Jan. 31 through March 4. In addition to the play itself (for which tickets must be purchased), the Rep is also sponsoring some free events. These include a book discussion at the Greendale Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 29, from 7-8 p.m., as well as a Panel Discussion on Sunday, Feb. 5, from 4:30–5:30 p.m., with artists from the Rep at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater at 108 E. Wells Street, Milwaukee.

owns multiple copies of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (also available in Large Print and audio book format), as well as the film starring Gregory Peck, available on DVD. Other books that could enhance your enjoyment of Mockingbird include:

Scout, Atticus and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary Murphy. This electronic edition features interview selections with prominent figures including Oprah Winfrey, Tom Brokaw, Wally Lamb, and Anna Quindlen discussing how Mockingbird has impacted their lives.

Mockingbird : a portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields. At the center of this lively book is the story of Lee's struggle to create her famous novel. But her life contains other highlights as well: her girlhood as a tomboy in tiny Monroeville, Alabama; the murder trial that made her beloved father's reputation and inspired her great work; her journey to Kansas as Truman Capote's research assistant to help report the story of the Clutter murders (In Cold Blood); and the surrogate family she found in New York City.

The heroine's bookshelf: life lessons, from Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder by Erin Blakemore. This book explores how the pluck and dignity of Mockingbird’s Scout Finch, and other literary characters such as Anne Shirley, Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Eyre, Scarlett O'Hara, and Jo March, can inspire women today.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin. Larry and Silas were boyhood pals, from very different worlds: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit.  After 20 years, Larry and Silas have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they've ignored for decades.