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READ ALIKES: To Kill a Mockingbird
Compiled by Sioux City Public Library reference staff (1-11-06)
Adult Readers Young Adults Younger Children
The following titles, like Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, explore themes of tolerance (race, class, gender, region, and religion), as well as single parenting and the development of conscience. Most are set before or during the Civil Rights Movement in the South and examine the role of education and understanding in lessening controversy and conflict.
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All the Way Home by Ann Tatlock. (Fiction Tat)
An Irish-German girl and a Japanese girl are friends during the 1930s; after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese family is sent to an internment camp and the girls do not cross paths until 20 years later in Mississippi.
Blood on the Leaves by Jeff Stetson. (Fiction Ste)
An African-American prosecutor in Jackson, Mississippi finds himself prosecuting a civil rights leader accused of killing whites that were acquitted of hate crimes.
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale. (Fiction Lan)
Young Harry Crane discovers a grisly crime in East Texas, unleashing a storm of fear and racial animosity while his father, the town constable, struggles to see that justice is done.
The Burying Field by Kenneth Abel. (Fiction Abe)
After four white teenagers desecrate an old slave burial ground, racial tensions erupt in a vicious war over land, power, and memory in a small Louisiana town.
Clover by Dori Sanders. (Fiction San)
Interracial marriage in the rural south of today is seen through the eyes of 10-year-old Clover who is raised by a white step-mom despite protests from relatives.
Color of Justice by Gary Hardwick. (Fiction Har)
When prominent members of Detroit’s African-American community are murdered, truths about a certain white detective are revealed and a motive is uncovered as stark as black and white.
A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton by Michael R. Phillips. (Fiction Phi)
Thrown together in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War, two teenagers work together to stay alive and preserve their plantation home.
Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery by John Gregory Brown. (Fiction Bro)
In New Orleans, where race defines destiny, a daughter begins to solve a mystery that led to tragedy long ago.
Fire in the Rock by Joe Martin. (Fiction Mar)
Set in the South in the 1950s, four friends, three white and one black, find their lives changed forever when a carefree summer takes a violent turn.
Justice for None by Gene Hackman and Daniel Lenihan. (Fiction Hac)
On the run from the law after being falsely accused of murder, a troubled World War I veteran joins forces with an African-American who has also been wrongly accused.
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. (Fiction Gai)
In 1948 Louisiana, a young teacher, asked to impart his pride and learning to a young black man awaiting execution, comes face to face with his own cynicism and hopelessness.
The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley. (Fiction Mos)
To save the home that has belonged to his family for generations, a young black man rents his basement to a mysterious stranger for the summer.
My Last Days As Roy Rogers by Pat Cunningham Devoto. (Fiction Dev)
Growing up in Alabama in the 1950s, two inseparable 10-year-old girls, one black and one white, discover the theft of money meant for polio victims and expose a racial injustice.
No Defense by Rangeley Wallace. (Fiction Wal)
A Southern lawyer’s crusade to solve an old civil rights case has tragic results when her father, a political pillar of the town, is implicated in a racial killing.
The Persia Café by Melany Neilson. (Fiction Nei)
The disappearance of a black boy in a small Mississippi town in 1962 plunges young Fannie into her town’s own heart of darkness.
Prince Edward by Dennis McFarland. (Fiction McF)
A young boy’s life in 1959 Virginia is changed forever by the Supreme Court order to desegregate the public schools.
Railroaded! by Whitefield Grant. (Fiction Gra)
A professional football player must deal with his past and clear his name despite racial tensions and a rigged courtroom.
River Season by Jim Black. (Fiction Bla)
In a small Texas town in the summer of 1966, 13-year-old Jim befriends an older African American man who relates his experiences as a Negro League baseball player and a black man in a racially strained community.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. (Fiction Kid)
After her “stand-in mother” insults the three biggest racists in town, Lily Owens and bold, black Rosaleen escape to Tiburon, South Carolina where they are taken in by bee-keeping sisters.
Snow in August by Pete Hamill. (Fiction Ham)
An 11-year-old Irish-American boy meets Rabbi Hirsch, recently arrived from Europe, and in return for teaching the rabbi about baseball and English, the boy learns Yiddish—until an Irish gang becomes violent in its anti-Semitism.
Walking through Shadows by Bev Marshall. (Fiction Mar)
The quiet farming community of Zebulon, Mississippi is disrupted by the murder of 17-year-old Sheila Barnes in 1941.
The White Road by John Connolly. (Mystery/Con)
A private investigator runs into complications while investigating the rape and murder of a young Southern woman as time runs out to save an African American from the death penalty.
Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine by Bebe Moore Campbell. (Fiction Cam)
A racist beating in a small Mississippi town ripples through generations, changing forever the lives of everyone involved with the incident.
A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America by James H. Madison.
In 1930, three young black men, accused of murdering a young white boy and raping his girlfriend waited for justice in an Indiana jail. Two were dragged from the jail and lynched by a mob; no one was ever punished for the hangings. Based on a true story.
Young Adult (Grades 7-10)
The titles below explore themes of southern life, shared memories of a culture or time, acceptance of others, prejudice and discrimination, and the dawning of the Civil Rights Movement, as seen through the eyes of the children and teens in the stories.
The $66 Summer by John Armistead. (Young Adult Arm)
Three teenage friends confront racism during the summer of 1955 in a small Southern town.
Black and White by Paul Volponi. (Young Adult Vol)
A gripping story of two friends, one black, one white, who make a bad mistake, and the realities of the urban criminal justice system.
Burning Up by Caroline B. Cooney. (Young Adult Coo)
When a girl from an inner-city church is murdered, 15-year-old Macey Clare discovers prejudice in her grandparents and their wealthy Connecticut community.
Lives of Our Own by Lorri Hewett. (Young Adult Hew)
After her wealthy parents divorce, Shawna returns with her father to the small Georgia town where he grew up and discovers a surprising connection to one of the “popular” white girls at school.
Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe. (Young Adult Cro)
A 16-year-old finds himself at odds with his grandfather over issues surrounding the kidnapping and murder of a 14-year-old African American from Chicago.
Younger Children (Grades 4-7)
Because Of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. (Juvenile DiC)
Ten-year-old India Opal Bulonie describes all that happens in her first summer in Naomi, Florida caused by the big ugly dog she names Winn-Dixie.
From Miss Ida’s Porch by Sandra Belton. (Juvenile Bel)
The residents of Church Street gather on Miss Ida’s porch to hear stories of past events.
My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt. (Juvenile Hol)
Growing up in rural Louisiana in the 1950s, 12-year-old Tiger Ann must decide whether to stay with her mentally slow parents and her stern but loving grandmother, or accept an invitation from a glamorous and flighty aunt to join her in the city.
Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor. (Juvenile Tay)
A black family, living in the South during the 1930s, faces prejudice and discrimination, which their children don’t understand.
Sounder by William Armstrong. (Juvenile Arm)
A young boy, humiliated and angry when his father is sentenced for stealing a ham from a white man, finds renewed hope when he learns to read.
The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis. (Juvenile Cur)
The day-to-day routine of an African-American family, living in Flint, Michigan, changes drastically when they travel to Alabama to visit Grandma in the summer of 1963.
