Module 12: Biography and Autobiography

I find that young adult biographies are rather hit or miss. I realize that subject's issues can't be described in a young adult book as in an adult biography, but I don't think that is an excuse to dumb down the book. Kids are smart, and they don't like to be patronized. That is why I found I Am Scout: A Biography of Harper Lee  by Charles Shields to be so refreshing.

The book starts with Lee's childhood and how she became a writer. She grew up next door to Truman Capote (In Cold Blood), and they wrote together on the same typewriter until he moved away. It goes through her college years, then finally to when she moved to New York and started To Kill a Mockingbird. It also gives a detailed account of her involvement in helping Capote research and write In Cold Blood, though Capote himself never fully acknowledged her hard work.

I found the book extremely interesting, and I couldn't put it down. Shields wrote the book as a young adult version of Mockingbird, his adult biography of Harper Lee. However, because I Am Scout seems like it is written for an all ages audience, I do wonder what was left out of Mockingbird. Shields is forthright about Capote's homosexuality and Lee's mother's mental illness in I Am Scout, and he seems careful not to attach any taboo to either issue.

"The author's clear and appealing style is much the same as in Mockingbird and this adaptation appears to have been not so much edited as streamlined. Photos include Lee, her family, friends, and the famous Hollywood actors who made the film version of her book. I Am Scout moves along at a good pace, and Lee's quiet life makes for a surprisingly fascinating read. Perhaps because Shields is pulling from so many sources, the occasional turn of phrase comes across as oddly formal, but generally, this is an immensely readable, intriguing tale of a quiet, private author." -- School Library Journal

"The text does an excellent job of conveying the facets of Lee's personality that made her a writing success, including her honesty, tenacity, sense of justice and adaptability of interpersonal style. In addition to detailing her writing of To Kill a Mockingbird, Shields demonstrates Lee's critical role in the creation of longtime friend Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. Prior knowledge of both works is not absolutely necessary, thanks to an absorbing and easy narrative style; still, readers may not pick this up unless they already have an interest in Lee's life." -- Kirkus Reviews

My idea for using the book in a library would be to promote one classic per month as well as the resources that are linked to the classic. I would promote To Kill a Mockingbird in July because that is when it was published, and I would include I Am Scout in my promotion.