The Help

For honors English this term we entered a contest. A contest called Letters About Literature. It is a contest where you write a letter to an author of your choice about how a certain book they wrote affected you. Although it may not be very well written it is how I felt. This is my letter.

Dear Kathryn Stockett,

Whenever my mom brought home books my family got so excited that we immediately made a list for the order of who gets to read it. Usually I am last on that list to read the book. Even when I am last, I always get super excited when it is my turn. The Help made me extremely anxious for my turn on the list. I have always loved reading the more mature books, and that is exactly what this was. With each family member that it got passed to I kept hearing them say how amazing it was. Well, when it was my turn to read The Help I was hoping that it would live up to my high expectations for this book, and it did. As I got further and further into the book, it threw my high expectations right out the window! It was the most amazing story I had ever read! All of the amazing things that my family said didn't even do this book justice.

The further I got on with the story, the more I began to love and to connect to the characters. The more of the story I read, the more that I began to see Minny as my mother. She is like the "sassy" version of my mother, as she says. The Help changed the way that I looked at the world. It was the first book to ever change my perspective on something. This book has inspired me to be a better person. It has mad e me get more involved in school and in service projects. I loved sitting around in my living room just discussing the wonders of this book. What we thought about this character or that. When I read this book I thought that it was just going to be like all of the other books that I had read. I thought it would have a good plot, but that it wouldn't be carried out very well. I was completely wrong! This is the most world changing book to read. It made me analyze things more carefully. It made me realize all of the things that I have that I take for granted every day, and for helping me realize these things I thank you. I thank you for enriching my life with your amazing story.

I don't often get very emotional with books. It's just a story right? Wrong. This is more than a story to me. This is a great work of literature. This story made me cry my eyes out at the end. I was very emotional, and made me very attached. I didn't want Aibileen to have to leave Mae Mobley, and most of all I didn't want to be on the final pages. I wanted this story, these characters to evolve with me. I wanted their lives to continue on as mine odes. This is a story that I hope to share with my children when I get older. I want your story to inspire others as it has me. I want others to be able to get to know these characters like I have, like family. I think that this is a classic work of literature, and I will never forget it. So for giving that to me I thank you. Thank you for showing me a different perspective, and for allowing me to see that there are stories that are so personal and well written that it make you cry when it ends.

- Signed, (my name)