Module 12: I Am Scout

I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee

A.    I Am Scout details the life of Harper Lee, the author famous for writing the book To Kill a Mockingbird.  The book details her similarity to Scout, the protagonist of that novel, as well as such topics as her father’s child-rearing style, upon which Atticus Finch’s style was based, her relationship with Truman Capote, and growing up in the post-slavery, pre-civil rights south.  While Lee’s writing made her a national sensation, she spent most of her time in quiet reflection and was loath to begin work on another novel, feeling that she did not need to keep producing work.  From her college years where she felt awkward to her adulthood, it seems that Lee never quite felt like she fit in, being a tomboy in an old-fashioned kind of world.

B.     Shields, C.J. (2008). I am scout: The biography of harper lee. New York, New York:

Henry Holt and Company LLC.

C.     The book is very informative and rather frank and open with discussions about what was going on with the people involved in Lee’s life.  Not the least of which, Capote’s drug and alcohol abuse and the way in which African Americans were treated at that time period.  There are ample footnotes throughout the book to point toward further information and the tone is overall neutral.  The author does not make any direct judgments about the decision of Lee, her family, or her friends but rather simply lets the narrative flow.  At times it is an amusing account but generally the writing is more clinical in nature which may turn away some children seeking to learn more about Harper Lee.

D.    “…Shields’s journalistic style creates a readable ode to a headstrong, determined, unconventional woman who writes, rewrites, edits, becomes frustrated, and finally finishes an enduring novel.” –C.C.B.

B., C. C. (2008). I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee. Horn Book Magazine,

84(3), 340-341.

“Shields’ formidable research, consisting of hundreds of interviews and examinations of papers and articles, will impress any student who has ever written a term paper.” –I. Cooper

Cooper, I. (2008). I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee. Booklist, 104(13), 59.

E.     For this activity, I would assist the students in brainstorming what another novel from Harper Lee might have looked like if she ever wrote one.  Since Lee based much of her writing on the people around her, I would ask them what other sorts of stories she might have written and to cite examples from the book to detail where they got the idea from.   We could write the ideas down on a poster board or butcher paper and then use them to form a rough outline for the story.  While the interest might not be there, I would encourage any kid who desired it to write this story themselves.