To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I vaguely remember reading this in grade school. I don't think I liked it, maybe even understood it. I don't know if that is due to my level of understanding, or the fact that it was "required reading".
Now,like The Scarlet Pimpernel, a "classic" that I can get behind. I know both my girls, ages 15 and 12 have read this, and enjoyed it, so maybe it was just me!
In any case, the book is fascinatingly rich and layered and smart. Told from the perspective of Scout, an 8-9 year old tomboy during the depression, the story unfolds not as an "event" but, as in life, a series of moments that just happen. I think sometimes To Kill a Mockingbird is thought of as a law story. Maybe the movie puts more emphasis on the trial. I think it is a story about a town, a time, a family whose father happens to be a lawyer. This is how our lives shape. If Scout's father had not been the trial lawyer, she still would've been vaguely aware of what was happening in her small town, but because it is her family, we are put deep inside those days.
I loved the "new teaching" at the school, Scout is told her reading and writing at home is ruining her education- We're still struggling to figure out how best to educate our children. And, I love Atticus. He's a wonderful character and gives me parental aspirations. I also hope to raise a boy such as Jem.
The subject of the trial is an alleged rape, but the story being told with an eight year old voice keeps it a bit nebulous "had his way with me" and pseudo-factual.
The subject of the book- people, and the setting - Alabama in the 1930's, means a hard look at prejudice and the struggles of the black community still living in a "white world".
I was reluctant to read it, as I recalled enough to know "bad stuff" happens. I thought maybe Jem or Atticus gets killed. Well, "bad stuff", indeed does happen, but the family makes it through the whole book, not unharmed, but not "Lovely Bones"'ed either. (Lovely Bones not recommended for kids, or for me either. Read it, it's demented.)
If you, like me, haven't read this book since grade school, pick it up again. And it is a good one to get in the hands of your strong readers before it is "required"- in case they're like me too.