To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is based on the novel by Harper Lee that was published in 1960. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American Literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on actual observations made by the author as a child pertaining to an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936. The novel was later made into an Oscar winning film in 1962. The character of Atticus Finch has served as a moral hero for many readers and the book itself is one of the most widely read books dealing with race in America.