I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee

Years after my first read of To Kill a Mockingbird, it still remains my #1 all-time favorite book. There simply is no other to compare.

Approximately 30,000,000 copies have been sold to date. Never anticipating success, Harper Lee hoped for a few positive comments and a tad of self confidence that

she was a writer.

In this excellent biography the author provides an in depth look at the shy, unimposing, tom boy, chain smoking, kind, introverted, southern woman by the name of Nelle Harper Lee.

The book is chocked full of interesting tidbits about Harper Lee's childhood and later years.

Given a gift of one year free from work to write a book, Harper Lee sequestered herself in a New York apartment and wrote and rewrote the draft of a book she wanted to call Atticus. The setting was based on her home town of Monroeville, Alabama during the time of depression and deep southern bigotry. Using her lawyer father as the key figure of Atticus Finch, an attorney who defended a black man wrongfully accused of raping a white woman, Harper Lee's book in many ways shone a bright light on the injustice of intolerance an,d many believe helped tousher in the civil rights movement in the United States.

When a seasoned editor read the first draft, she knew that even though the book needed some revamping, this was indeed a gem -- and the rest is history!

Unlike her attention craving, narcissistic, insecure friend Truman Capote, Harper did not embrace the dramatic changes that occurred in her life when the book sky rocketed to glory.

While she helped pave the way for his successful publication In Cold Blood, he never acknowledged her contribution. Conversely, when she won the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird, Truman lied and claimed he helped write her book.

It has been a long time since Harper Lee gave an interview. She lives a quiet life with her elderly sister. Shunning those who clamor for her time and attention, she rarely interacts with the public.

Highly recommended!

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LibraryThing member librariankristin

In this adaptation for younger readers, Charles J. Shields presents much of the information from his adult biography of Harper Lee, Mockingbird.

LibraryThing member reneecomer

Although the title may suggest otherwise, this biography of Harper Lee has a very rare bit of information about Harper Lee's personal life, and has more to do with her one and only novel, how she went about writing it, and how she assisted her friend Truman Capote in writing his own novel. This is

a version of Shield's adult biography enitled "Mockingbird," and I Am Scout was specifically created from that biography as a book for the young adult audience. The differences between the two books are very few, but the subject of Harper Lee's novel is an excellent supplemental reading assignment for those students reading To Kill A Mockingbird, as it helps them understand the background behind the novel.

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LibraryThing member rpultusk

This biography of Harper Lee is apparently the YA version of a similar book the author wrote for adults, "Mockingbird." It tells the story of Nelle Harper Lee, enigmatic author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Harper Lee has led a fascinating life and this book manages

to capture some of the nuances of her complex character. The author clearly did a significant amount of research into her childhood, her early years, and her life as a writer. However, in sharing the details of Lee's life, the author includes often irrelevant information (as if solely to showcase his extensive research).

The book includes occasional photographs of Lee, her complicated best friend (Truman Capote), and her family members. There are also extensive footnotes and references. The tone of the text sometimes seems condescending, as if the author is talking down to the YA audience.

Recommended for middle and high school libraries.

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LibraryThing member mjspear

Short and sweet biography of famed author Harper Lee. Includes her (unackowledged) contribution to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. Draws parallels between herself and the character Scout. While a gifted writer, Harper was not a very sociable or well-rounded person. She did not fit in college, and

became reclusive late in life.

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LibraryThing member papersister

Not the most exciting book to read but it was definitely very interesting after reading To Kill a Mockingbird. It makes me want to read In Cold Blood. I didn't realize she was that involved with writing it.

LibraryThing member AliceaP

Sometimes it's best not to start a book with a high sense of anticipation because you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. This isn't the case 100% of the time (thank goodness!) but the few times it happens it is SUCH a bummer. This is precisely what happened with I Am Scout. I've been

curious about Harper Lee for a while now as her name (and novel) are such a big deal for my home state of Alabama (and the world if I'm being honest). Therefore, when I heard praise for a young adult biography on this esteemed author I knew it had to be added to my wish list right away (it's been on my Amazon wish list since the fall of 2011). I expected to get an in-depth story about an author that seemed to be synonymous with civil liberty and the South. What I got instead were anecdotes from former classmates who admitted they weren't even close to Lee. I have to give Shields credit where credit is due because he certainly did his research as best as he could with the resources that he had available to him. It is well known fact that Harper Lee is not in the habit of giving interviews and even when she does they are short and impersonal affairs. She wrote one of the most influential novels of the 20th century and then seemed to adopt the life of a recluse. If you're picking up this book in the hopes that you'll find out more about the woman who penned To Kill a Mockingbird then I'm afraid you'll be dissatisfied with the outcome.

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LibraryThing member asomers

With Harper Lee's recent passing I decided to learn more about this elusive author. This was not the best choice . It reads as if the author obtained all of his information from hanging out at the local coffee shop listening to gossip. While there are extensive notes at the back of the book, it

doesn't written as if it is well researched. It sounds more like hearsay. That said , I learned enough to satisfy my interest in Ms. Lee's life story.

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