I somehow missed reading this in high school. I decided to pick it up when all the buzz started going about Harper Lee's second book. I was both saddened and surprised by how relevant this book written in 1960 felt today. Choosing to use Scout (Jean Louise) the youngest character in the book to tell a story about this small town and its very ugly racism and her coming to grips with what it means to be racist was a compelling approach and I think it dissected feeling and thoughts I've had about racism in my life. I liked Scout sometimes, know-it-all characters are seldom my cup of tea, especially when they don't know, but watching her learn what she thought she knew was enthralling. Atticus was too perfect a human being to the point where I really just said, "Come on." But I believe the character is more of a symbol that a real person. Yes in the book he was Scout's father, but to me he represented what we all strive or should strive to be when we interact with fellow humans, but very often fail to do. The state the country is in now and has always been is a chaos of White vs Black, Rich vs Poor, etc, etc. This idea of respect and compassion is a message that everyone seems to be missing. We all think we are the fair minded ones and that everyone else is crazy or misinformed and we never stop to wonder why they feel the way they do. Why they disagree to vehemently with us. We argue for our perspective and seldom hear the other side. I though this book was fantastic and I'm sorry I only read it for the first time now, but I'm glad I did. 
 After finishing this book I read a synopsis of the new one and I have concluded that the book was very clearly a first draft and does plenty to tarnish everything "To Kill a Mockingbird" established. I have no need or desire to read it.