To Kill a Mockingbird

Scout introduces Maycomb, Alabama, and the Finch family. Dill arrives for the summer. The children become fascinated with Boo Radley. Scout begins school and has her first conflicts with authority — Miss Caroline, Walter Cunningham's lunch, and Burris Ewell.

Scout finds gifts in the Radley tree knothole. The children stage increasingly elaborate Boo Radley dramas. They attempt a midnight raid on the Radley property; Jem loses his pants on the fence. Someone covers Scout with a blanket during Miss Maudie's house fire.

More knothole gifts appear — the soap carvings and a pocket watch. Nathan Radley cements the knothole. First snow in Maycomb; Scout and Jem build a snowman. Miss Maudie's house burns down. Boo covers Scout in a blanket. Jem finally tells Atticus about the knothole gifts.

Scout fights a schoolmate who calls Atticus a 'nigger-lover.' Atticus explains he must defend Tom Robinson. The Finch family visits for Christmas; Scout fights her cousin Francis. Uncle Jack disciplines Scout but later realizes he heard only Francis's side. Mrs. Dubose hurls racist abuse at the children; Jem destroys her camellias. Atticus reveals Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict who chose to die clear-headed. She is, he says, the bravest person he ever knew.

Atticus is called away to a legislative session. Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church — First Purchase African M.E. Church. Scout discovers that Calpurnia has a 'separate existence' outside the Finch household. Aunt Alexandra arrives to give the children 'gentle breeding.'

Scout and Jem quarrel; Dill has run away from home and is hiding under Scout's bed. Atticus explains that Tom Robinson cannot get a fair trial in Maycomb but must try anyway. A mob assembles at the jail to lynch Tom; Scout disperses it by speaking to Walter Cunningham Sr. The town descends on the courthouse; Reverend Sykes finds the children seats in the balcony. Scout observes Maycomb's social geography arranged in the courtroom.

The trial of Tom Robinson. Witnesses for the prosecution: Sheriff Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell. Atticus's cross-examinations establish that Mayella was beaten on her right side (by a left-handed assailant), that Bob Ewell is left-handed, and that Tom Robinson's left arm is useless. Tom testifies: he helped Mayella regularly; on the day of the alleged assault, she kissed him. He ran because he was frightened — a Black man would never be believed. Atticus's closing argument. The jury deliberates for hours — unusually long — and convicts.

The Black community fills the Finch kitchen with food. Jem weeps. Miss Maudie explains what Atticus's appointment meant. Bob Ewell threatens Atticus, spits on his face, and vows revenge. Tom Robinson is shot trying to escape from prison. Atticus delivers the news to Helen Robinson. Scout learns that Bob Ewell threatened the judge's wife. The world settles into uneasy acceptance of injustice.

The new school year begins; Scout's class discusses Hitler. Scout muses about Boo Radley. Miss Gates gives a lesson on democracy but was heard at the trial saying Tom Robinson 'deserved' to be convicted. Jem grows sullen when Scout raises this contradiction. Halloween pageant at school; Scout wears a ham costume. Walking home in the dark, Scout and Jem are attacked by Bob Ewell. Jem's arm is broken. A stranger carries Jem home — Boo Radley.

Scout recognizes Boo Radley. Sheriff Heck Tate and Atticus debate who killed Bob Ewell — Jem or Boo. Tate rules it was a fall on his own knife, protecting Boo from public attention. Scout walks Boo home and, standing on his porch, finally understands her father's lessons about empathy. Atticus reads to Scout; she falls asleep.