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'''Harper Lee''' (born April 28th28, 1928– February 19, 2016) is a [[Pulitzer prize]] winning American [[novel]]ist, known for her major work ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'', which was first published in 1960. Lee is a native of Monroeville, [[Alabama]], and much of her fiction is considered autobiographical in nature. She was awarded the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 2007 by President [[George W. Bush]].<ref>[http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/11/20071105-1.html President Bush Honors Medal of Freedom Recipients] </ref>.

Lee's father was a local lawyer in small-town Monroeville, Alabama, who for some time served on the state legislature. Lee studied Law at the University of Alabama in the late 1940s, but did not graduate. She was employed as a reservation clerk until 1959, when her first novel was published.<ref>"... it was a debut novel written by a woman who’d been earning a living as a clerk for an airline company at the time she’d written it." -- [[Daniel Clay]]</ref> While in Monroeville, her childhood friend was [[Truman Capote]], who also became a notable author.

The novel is partly autobiographical. It deals with racial prejudice and class in [[The South|the American south]] in the early 1930s. The book is set around a framework of historical events, with references to President Roosevelt and Hitler. In the Depression-era small southern townThe main character is one Jean Louise Finch, a racially-charged trial takes placeknown as Scout, who [[Bildungsroman|ages from five to eight over the course of the novel]]. The defendant As a young child, an African-American man is charged she, her brother Jem, and their summertime friend Dill develop a fascination with the rape legend of Boo Radley, a white womanman whom they believed murdered his parents (who are now in the chimney) and lives in a nearby house. He They learn what they can from neighbors, particularly Miss Maudie Atkinson and the town gossip Miss Stephanie Crawford. Their father is defended by one Atticus Finch, an attorney the courteous and logical small town lawyer, expert in settling quarrels between Scout and Jem by listening to both sides. He is polite enough to deal with one mean and whiny neighbor, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, who is suffering a strong moral center[[morphine]] addiction. The story At one point, Jem is narrated by Finchforced to read ''[[Ivanhoe]]'' to her in parts, as she breaks her addiction. She dies shortly afterwards. Scout and Jem deal with teachers, a snow day, their extended family and the permanent visit of Aunt Alexandra, all of which develop their character before the trial scene at the climax of the book. Many chapters are individual stories concerning Scout's early life which do not relate to the trial of the legend of Boo Radley. These serve to make the story more realistic and to reinforce the 1930s setting. Scout and Jem continue to age, and a large portion of the novel deals with a trial which the town attends. A Negro man, Tom Robinson, is on trial for the unproven, probably fictional rape of Mayella Ewell, daughterof the licentious Bob Ewell. Atticus has been hired to defend Tom Robinson. In the end, when Scoutand Jem are going home, who they are attacked in the dark by the elder Ewell and saved by their childhood legend Boo Radley. == Go Set a Watchman ==This novel is aged five when the story beginssequel to ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', eight when although Lee wrote it endsthree years prior. Lee endows her character with streetsmarts It takes place 20 years later, and simple honesty such that the story is pervaded by follows a sense now adult Scout Finch. The novel was released on July 14, 2015, 55 years after the release of overwhelming authenticity''To Kill a Mockingbird''.

Lee, Harper. ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. Everbind Books.[[categoryCategory:The South]][[Category:American Authors]][[Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom award winners]]{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Harper}}