The Help by Kathrynn Stockett

I went on a vacation with my sisters, aunt and mom. My mom bought me a book to read on the driving trip but I get sick when I read in the car and I was too busy having fun to read it on the vacation so I read it a different time. I was so grateful my mom got me this book. It's called "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I had heard about it every once in a while and even heard that it was becoming a movie but I had no idea what it was about. Which made it more exciting to read. Of course I read the back of the book and the synopsis. It is a story about change in the 1960s. A time I was defiantly not a part of but only learned about in history class.

I finished the book at the end of August this year. It was one of those books where I read it at work whenever I had a free moment or the kids were just playing. It was an amazing book! This book takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. It tells of how three women changed the dynamics between the white folk and the black folk during this time in our U.S. history. How you ask? Well by telling it how it is. A brave writer named Skeeter complies interviews of the black help on how it is/was to work for white people. Skeeter could not have done this without the help of Aibileen and Minny.

I thought the time that it was set in was timely. I never lived in the '60s but this gave a good representation. The depiction of the 60's was portrayed through the eyes of two black women, Aibileen and Minny, and one white woman, Skeeter. So it offered a variant of point of view. The way Stockett used first person in the book made it very real. Especially when Aibileen and Minny talked. You can almost hear that thick southern accent. It's also neat how there is the point of view from Aibileen and the point of view from Minny, two women of similarity yet different enough to let their personalities show.

I especially loved Skeeter's character, the white woman that "talks." She aspires to write therefore I am naturally drawn to her. The villain, Hilly, is portrayed as a classic '60s wife who is beyond racist, manipulative, and judgmental. She fully deserves to get a lawn full of toilets.

By reading this book and getting acquainted with the characters, it makes you wonder which character would you be. The judgmental Hilly, the concerned Skeeter, the follow-the-crowd Miss Leefolt, the drunken Miss Celia, don't-care-what-you-think Minny, or the loyal Aibileen. I am anxiously awaiting to see the movie and hoping not to be disappointed.