Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mockingbird has been enjoyed in classrooms for years, and though Lee has refused to talk to the media for years, she has announced that a sequel will be released in July.

To Kill A Mockingbird was released in 1960 as a book narrated by a young girl named Scout. She and her brother, Jem, live in racially divided Maycomb, Alabama with their father Atticus, a successful lawyer. The novel shows serious real world problems from an innocent point of view, and it has captivated readers for fifty-five years.

Tamara Kelley taught tenth grade English for 30 years and enjoyed analyzing and reanalyzing To Kill A Mockingbird.

“I’m really excited [for the sequel],” said Kelley. “I’m in a book club with some other teachers, and it’s going to be one of our club books.”

Specifically at Susquehannock, sophomores in all levels read and analyze the novel in the English department. As with everything in high school, there is a split opinion about the book, but Lee’s novel seems to be a more popular reading requirement.

Junior Brooke Weber read the novel over the summer before tenth grade and regards it as one of her favorite scholastic reads.

“I really liked it and the lessons that it taught even though it was published in a time that wasn’t very progressive,” said Weber.

“[We will see] the connection of Maycomb in the 1930’s and Maycomb in the 1950’s,” said Kelley. “I’m wondering if any of the same people will be there.”

Lee admits that Watchman was written before Mockingbird, and her publicist suggested a novel written by a younger Scout thus the classic we all know was born.

“I’m really excited for [the new novel],” said Weber. “We just get more insight on how she looks back and realizes things that happened to her as a kid.”

Immediately after the sequel announcement, the public began to question whether or not the sickly 88 year-old author could really have signed off on this publication; however, in a New York Times article, Lee vehemently protested the claims, saying that she was actually hurt by the assumptions. In addition, her friends and family protested that though Lee’s wheelchair-bound body is starting to weaken, her mind is still sharp.

Sophomore Kristy Smith enjoyed reading the book earlier this year, and she looks forward to reading the sequel.

“I think that it will be really cool,” said Smith. “Harper Lee wrote it before To Kill A Mockingbird, and it will be cool to see how it matches [the first novel].”

Fans of Lee and her work anxiously await more news regarding the novel. A cover, which lacked photos or graphics, was released on February 9. With this release, anticipation for the novel heightened. Readers from all over are waiting for a continuation of the magical story of Scout Finch.