In the Crow's Nest: Part Two of a literary legend...

the life of the woman who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird!

From Goodreads: To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most widely read novels in American literature. It’s also a perennial favorite in highschool English classrooms across the nation. Yet onetime author Harper Lee is a mysterious figure who leads a very private life in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, refusing to give interviews or talk about the novel that made her a household name. Lee’s life is as rich as her fiction, from her girlhood as a rebellious tomboy to her days at the University of Alabama and early years as a struggling writer in New York City.

Charles J. Shields is the author of the New York Times bestseller Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, which he has adapted here for younger readers.What emerges in this riveting portrait is the story of an unconventional, high-spirited woman who drew on her love of writing and her Southern home to create a book that continues to speak to new generations of readers. Anyone who has enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird will appreciate this glimpse into the life of its fascinating author.

This one looks quite promising. I skimmed the first few pages when I spotted it at the library last week. Shields pulls you right in from the get-go with Lee's brute defiance of the school bullies: "Get offa him!" (the "him" being bullied none other than the now-famous Truman Capote!).

I quite like biographies that tell a story rather than a history of a person's life; Shields' Juvenile biography of Harper Lee's life seems to be just the right thing. Adding to the TBR for 2010!