To Kill a Mockingbird defines what a classic is.  The book’s main character, Atticus Finch, is an example of the everyman hero: a good  father who loves his children, a respected member of the community, and a lawyer who will not back down from seeing justice even at the expense of his reputation.  The town of Monroeville, Alabama, still looks in 2007 like Atticus could walk out of the court house and walk home to Jem and Scout.
 

This is a novella that teaches us so much about life and love of nature.  I find myself frequently returning to this book for advice on relationships.  “For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us.  Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give or more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted.  And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us.  But we can still love them – we can love completely without complete understanding.”
 

This is a book I did not read until I was well into adulthood.  I read it with a teen, and in doing so, I became reacquainted with the challenges of growing up.  Boys can still relate to Holden Caulfield in the coming-of-age novel.  His character has taken on a timelessness despite a setting of mid-20th century New York City.  Holden questions what we question and speaks what we are afraid to say.
 

As a lover of baseball, this book ripped the cover off the sport, exposing its heroes as flawed human beings.  Bouton presents his 1969 season in diary form, detailing his performances and relationships during his season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros.  It may not be great writing, but this book was the first of its kind and has stood the test of time.