debz57a52's review against another edition
4.5
This book has been on my TBR for more years than it should have been. It's a gem.
Lucy and friends have the who summer ahead of them, and what are they to do? Hang out at the pool? Go camping? Get a job? Nope - they're going to launch a viral movement to get more people to read To Kill a Mockingbird. These bookish kids are wonderful characters to follow - their conversations are funny and quippy, dripping with allusions to books and movies. Their tactics are outrageous - although never illegal - and the supporting cast of adults are even present enough to step in when necessary. I really enjoyed this book, but it went by too fast.
Lucy and friends have the who summer ahead of them, and what are they to do? Hang out at the pool? Go camping? Get a job? Nope - they're going to launch a viral movement to get more people to read To Kill a Mockingbird. These bookish kids are wonderful characters to follow - their conversations are funny and quippy, dripping with allusions to books and movies. Their tactics are outrageous - although never illegal - and the supporting cast of adults are even present enough to step in when necessary. I really enjoyed this book, but it went by too fast.
everthereader's review against another edition
4.0
This was really fun to read and I could really relate to the characters. I really loved the whole conspiracy.
hereistheend's review against another edition
4.0
Assigned to read To Kill A Mockingbird, Lucy is elated- it's one of her favorite books, though everyone else is clearly not pleased. In order to get everyone to read the book, she and her two friends decide to start a small conspiracy... that grows into a national movement. Funny and light, this is a very fun book probably geared towards younger teens/pre-teens.
This was a lot of fun and really cute and happy (her mom is BETTER from cancer, not dying. MIND COMPLETELY BLOWN). It felt a bit lacking in emotion (their favorite teacher dying felt like a shoulder shrug, 'yeah it's unfair...'), but it was cute.
This was a lot of fun and really cute and happy (her mom is BETTER from cancer, not dying. MIND COMPLETELY BLOWN). It felt a bit lacking in emotion (their favorite teacher dying felt like a shoulder shrug, 'yeah it's unfair...'), but it was cute.
internationalkris's review against another edition
2.0
This was a nice enough idea for a book but the characters didn't feel real at all. I wanted to like it but can't say that it left much of an impression on me.
rebecca2023's review against another edition
3.0
I read, not long ago, that religion is the last taboo in YA lit. Rarely do you find discussion of characters' religious lives. The author of this book does not shy away from this topic. The main character and her family are practicing Catholic, in a non-dogmatic, loosey-goosey kind of way, and it is refreshing to find religion dealt with with such a light touch.
This book also broaches some really interesting philosophical questions about how to live life.
This book also broaches some really interesting philosophical questions about how to live life.
itsmytuberculosis's review against another edition
3.0
I felt this was a trailer for a better and more complete book -- or as my eighth grade science teacher would say, used a screwdriver when it should have been using a shovel.
sandraagee's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it to be sweet and satisfying. As a middle-grade novel for those in grades 5-7 or so, it succeeds fairly well.
I was super intrigued by the premise of this book and while I certainly enjoyed hearing about how the I Kill the Mockingbird movement took off, I didn't necessarily feel the same satisfaction in reading about its ending. Everything seemed to wrap up a bit too neatly and easily, which left me longing for something to make the ending more compelling.
I was super intrigued by the premise of this book and while I certainly enjoyed hearing about how the I Kill the Mockingbird movement took off, I didn't necessarily feel the same satisfaction in reading about its ending. Everything seemed to wrap up a bit too neatly and easily, which left me longing for something to make the ending more compelling.
beklovesbooks's review against another edition
fast-paced
2.75
A little weird.
I like books that refer to other books I read and this had a ton of that. I didn’t like the treatment of Fat Bob and the idea of students and others all referring to him that way.
Cute little side love story. Not very honoring treatment of Catholic faith.
I like books that refer to other books I read and this had a ton of that. I didn’t like the treatment of Fat Bob and the idea of students and others all referring to him that way.
Cute little side love story. Not very honoring treatment of Catholic faith.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Cancer, and Death
Minor: Medical content, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Car accident, Death of parent, and Body shaming
alinaborger's review
4.0
Lucy loves To Kill a Mockingbird. Elena and Michael appreciate it. But they all love Fat Bob, the teacher who recommended it—the teacher who swore it would be the entirety of their summer reading list before he had a heart attack in the cafeteria and died.
Their new teacher inspires significantly less devotion and makes Mockingbird optional. Lucy won’t settle for optional, and she and her friends concoct a savvy social-media event that gets everyone reading it—if they’re lucky enough to find a copy.
In I Kill the Mockingbird, Acampora crafts the friendship between Lucy, Elena and Michael with lovely attention to detail, and they are the kind of brilliant, emotionally mature, bookish teenagers that every teacher adores.
But what’s even more remarkable is the supporting cast. Lucy’s mother has just survived a bout with cancer and her father is a busy Catholic-school principal; Elena lives with her Uncle above the bookstore he owns, and Michael’s single mom nurtures his baseball ambitions with tender devotion. Any one of these adults in another book would have been underdeveloped or overemphasized—and as a result would have pushed against the fabric of the book, would have undercut the main trio’s first steps toward independence. But Acampora has handled all of them believably, enriching the fabric of the main characters’ lives.
Nowhere is this enrichment more obvious than in the tensions the characters face between what is and what should be. Parents shouldn’t get sick or die or go missing, Lucy thinks, but they do, so she has to figure out how. How can her dad maintain a religious faith he considers “good manners” in the face of her mother’s illness? How can her mom return to the role of caregiver when she has spent so long being cared for?
As for what should be: Lucy isn’t too sure, except for one thing. Everyone ought to read To Kill a Mockingbird. And for that, she and her friends have a phenomenal plan.
Their new teacher inspires significantly less devotion and makes Mockingbird optional. Lucy won’t settle for optional, and she and her friends concoct a savvy social-media event that gets everyone reading it—if they’re lucky enough to find a copy.
In I Kill the Mockingbird, Acampora crafts the friendship between Lucy, Elena and Michael with lovely attention to detail, and they are the kind of brilliant, emotionally mature, bookish teenagers that every teacher adores.
But what’s even more remarkable is the supporting cast. Lucy’s mother has just survived a bout with cancer and her father is a busy Catholic-school principal; Elena lives with her Uncle above the bookstore he owns, and Michael’s single mom nurtures his baseball ambitions with tender devotion. Any one of these adults in another book would have been underdeveloped or overemphasized—and as a result would have pushed against the fabric of the book, would have undercut the main trio’s first steps toward independence. But Acampora has handled all of them believably, enriching the fabric of the main characters’ lives.
Nowhere is this enrichment more obvious than in the tensions the characters face between what is and what should be. Parents shouldn’t get sick or die or go missing, Lucy thinks, but they do, so she has to figure out how. How can her dad maintain a religious faith he considers “good manners” in the face of her mother’s illness? How can her mom return to the role of caregiver when she has spent so long being cared for?
As for what should be: Lucy isn’t too sure, except for one thing. Everyone ought to read To Kill a Mockingbird. And for that, she and her friends have a phenomenal plan.