4.5 stars. Wonderful, wonderful book. There was some major powerhouse storytelling going on and you can't help but become very emotionally invested in the characters' lives. Comparisons to To Kill A Mockingbird are both justified and even somewhat meta as the book references Harper Lee's classic more than once. 
 (Also, I'm really thrilled that Emma Stone is playing Skeeter in the movie. I just hope they do it justice.)