To Kill a Mockingbird

I was given a copy of this graphic novel by Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review.

Today's post is on To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee as adapted and Illustrated by Fred Fordham. It is 288 pages long and is published by Harper Collins. The cover is a picture of Scout from behind looking at her father and Tom Robinson. The intended reader is someone who likes graphic novels, classic novels, and time tested stories. There is very foul language, talk of rape, and violence in this novel. The story is told from third person close of Scout, the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- A beautifully crafted graphic novel adaptation of Harper Lee’s beloved, Pulitzer prize–winning American classic.
"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird."
A haunting portrait of race and class, innocence and injustice, hypocrisy and heroism, tradition and transformation in the Deep South of the 1930s, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird remains as important today as it was upon its initial publication in 1960, during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement.
Now, this most beloved and acclaimed novel is reborn for a new age as a gorgeous graphic novel. Scout, Gem, Boo Radley, Atticus Finch, and the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, are all captured in vivid and moving illustrations by artist Fred Fordham.

Review- A wonderful adaptation of a classic that adds to the story. Fordham takes a very hard story and gives it new life for a new, younger audience in this graphic novel adaptation. He does not change any of the language, so we read the very hard, very cruel words of 1930's Alabama. He does not change the tragic outcome, with his illustrations he makes the cruelty even more clear with the characters faces and the shock of the ending not lost in translation. By sticking so close to the original story Fordham really brings this tragic tale into the modern reader's hands. The art style is good without being too intricate and that would not have worked with this story and the characters in it. This is a great way to get reluctant readers to try this story and experience it for themselves.

I give this book a Five out of Five stars.