The Help: Book Review

The nature of my job allows me to read lots of books. I teach 8th grade English, so I am always looking for good books to recommend to my class. As a rule of thumb, I generally try to stay away from "tween" books. You know...The Clique Series, Dear Dumb Diary, Diary of a Wimpy Kid....etc. Not that those books aren't good, but I like books with a little more meat to them.

During a conference last summer, The Help by Kathryn Stockett was recommended by a fellow avid reader. I bought it, and it sat...until Winter Break. One cold, snowy day I picked it up, and decided to get started. It has been, so far...one of the best books I have read all year.

Set in early 1960's, we follow a group of four white, female friends. All growing up in Jackson, MS. Skeeter, the main character, has just graduated from Ole Miss, and is determined to become a journalist. After receiving advice from a New York editor, Skeeter sets out to write a story that could change her town, her relationships with men, family, friends, and could change her life all together.

She decides to write the stories of local black female domestic servants, and their relationships with the white women who employ them. Because of Jim Crow Laws and the general idea that whites shouldn't talk to blacks, Skeeter has to find a way to tell the story, without risking her life and the life of her new found friends.

It is a candid/eye-opening look at how all women were portrayed in the South, and how even the smallest details do not go unnoticed. It is well written, and will keep you turning the pages to discover how Skeeter finds the guts to write the story, and the courage to become something different than the expected life of a 1960's housewife.