Customer Reviews

In Search of Mockingbird

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Who am I to contradict professional critics; but the professional critiques posted for this book do not do it justice.

I picked up a copy of this book at an ALA conference and fell in love with it. A beautiful story, a beautifully-illustrated setting, and a gentle reminder of why most of us fell in love with Harper Lee's novel are three reasons to read this novel. Harper Lee created Mockingbird's world, and Loretta Ellsworth waltzes into Harper Lee's world easily and effortlessly and takes us with her. I recommend this book for all ages and particularly for young women who need to know that their yearning for self-discovery is a universal anthem.

Shall we 'take the dog' (greyhound bus) to Minnesota and locate this book's author, Loretta Ellsworth? Her 2007 novel "In Search of Mockingbird" grabbed my attention with its new 'take' on the runaway theme. AND, it is the subject of a blog: "In Search of Connections" by a favorite author, Gwenyth Swain ... www.gwenythswain.com.

Erin is a high school sophomore whose favorite book "To Kill a Mockingbird" was authored by famous recluse, Harper Lee. Erin runs away from her Minnesota home on the eve of her sixteenth birthday when her dad's announcement that he will soon remarry sets her in motion. Erin's destination: Monroeville, Alabama. In her mind she mulled over this pilgrimage many times, even before learning that before her mother's early death she, too, had greatly admired the Alabama author, an icon of American literature.

Erin's life, crowded with questions and confusion, aspirations and feelings of being different, led to filling a journal with her longings to become a writer. Author Ellsworth relates with authenticity the relentless miles that stretch between MN and the deep South, the numerous 'stops' and the quirky and memorable passengers who are burdened with their own problems. We want to think the "sharings" on the bus trip are believable: Erin's conflicting emotions of guilt & approval about her dad's intended marriage ... fellow traveler Sedushia's estrangement from an adult son, Epp's dreams of manufacturing an electronic game ... these hidden desires are shown like time-lapse photos that evolve into a beautiful magnolia blossom.

The use of Harper Lee's book "To Kill a Mockingbird" to nudge the fellow bus passengers ('strangers in the night') toward solutions is moving. Loretta Ellsworth has written a made-for-Disney story for young people, their parents & grandparents. It is very readable and is a realistic telling that avoids crudity and cuteness. This is an American novel that serves as a salute to youth in the 1980s. Reviewer mcHaiku read it from start to finish, ignoring all interruptions and feeling like a kid again!

(Also consider adding the audio version of "To Kill a Mockingbird" (Sissy Spacek, narrator) to your shopping cart: #0060888709).

Although the School Library Journal suggests grade level 7-10, I would recommend this book for any age, even us older folks.
Ellsworth's style and skills make this a Store Favorite in my shop. It made me go back and reread To Kill A Mockingbird with a new perspective.

Highly recommended!

I think I have probably read "To Kill a Mockingbird" at least thirty times, starting back when it was first published fifty-one years ago. I currently teach, part time, at a local college. And this is the novel I use to show students what absolutely brilliant writing really is.
But I had not heard about Loretta Ellsworth's "In Search of Mockingbird" until another Harper Lee fan told me about it.
It is a small book, one I read in about two hours, mostly because I couldn't put it down.
Except for the very beginning and the very ending of the novel, everything occurs in Greyhound buses, starting in Minnesota and ending in the most famous bus terminal in the South, Montgomery, Alabama, made infamous by what happened to the freedom riders in 1963.
Erin is sixteen. Her mother died when she was a baby. And for her birthday her father has given her her mother's diary, one in which much is said about how much her mother loved "To Kill a Mockingbird." As does Erin. It is her favorite book of all. Mine too I think.
And Erin learns her mother wanted to be a writer as does Erin.
So she decides to run away, to use money given to her for her birthday, to get to meet Harper Lee. And wait until you see the oh-so-perfect event that happens at the end of this journey.
I won't tell you much more except that you will meet some wonderful bus riders, not the least of which is Sedushia. Yes, S-E-D-U-S-H-I-A.
The novel is a first person account by Erin of the adventure including lovely little diary entries that come at the beginning of each chapter.
For anyone who loves the Harper Lee classic, this is just a must read. It really is.

Warning: Spoil.

The first thing made me want to read this book is that it contains about To Kill A Mockingbird and the cover is so beautiful. I love the illustrative cover which is kind of old, like a journal whose she brought to everywhere.

The story is about the girl who wanted to find out the link between her mom, her and Harper Lee. In her adventure, she met a lot of interesting people whom she helped and helped her. I love the part that she had courage from everybody in the bus. That s just so sweet and awesome!
I also like the part that Lee helped her. At first when I read, I kind of know that is Lee but the way she told her to write a letter for her mother made me surprised and interested. I felt like, yeah, that is her! That 's the way she would do. She wouldn't talk to Erin to make Erin notice her. She would talk a little bit to Erin and left with the direction she gave to another person to help her.

Another reason made me love this book is the way she left her house to find herself by herself which is what I want to do but I can't.

I also like this book because of their quotes and you should read it to have your own quotes, your own feeling, your own though.

It s a great book that if you love To Kill A Mockingbird ( I don't mean to kill a mockingbird, I mean To Kill A mockingbird. You get what I mean), love to adventure, you should read it and never feel regret.