It hasn't always been my habit to read the latest, greatest things that are coming out, and it took me a really long time to get to this one.  Honestly, I only read it because I found a copy on sale for $4 at Books-A-Million.  I just prefer to spend my time researching or letting myself experience the seemingly endless list of time-tested classics.  But this is the book that showed me definitively that it can sometimes be a huge mistake to dismiss things because of the hype. Despite the hugely positive public reception of a lot of really garbage books lately, the readers that tout this book as an instant classic are right on the nose.  

The Help is a book that takes place in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, and this world is presented to us from the eyes of Aibileen, a black maid raising yet another bad white mother's child; Minny, Aibileen's strong and sassy friend who just can't keep her mouth shut; and Skeeter, long-time friend of the "ladies" that have been bossing around Minny and Aibeleen for years. Skeeter wants more from her life than marriage, and when the opportunity presents itself, she dives into Aibileen and Minny's world with the ultimate goal of telling the world what it's like to be a black woman serving a white woman in the South.  

 My only problem with this book was with Skeeter's character.  I just couldn't like her.  She wasn't genuine.  She may have started out with a little curiosity about the maids in her heart, and she may have learned half a lesson by the time the story wrapped up, but it's just so obvious that she only wrote at all because she wanted so badly to land a *Big City Job* and avoid her miserable,  small-town fate.  She picked the most wild and controversial subject she could think of to impress a publisher (because that's what the editor asked for) and then made that crazy idea happen when she realized it would be her only chance at success in the *BIG CITY*.   And I was a little miffed at the way she (spoiler alert) just decided to emotionally own the finished book like she'd done anything other than edit the stories of  women who were much more real.  And naturally, having made her big, grabbing controversy, she takes it and runs, further proving that her *Big City* goal was most important all along and that she'd learned less than desired from what she had experienced.  I mean, it's natural to want success, but I feel that she was needed in Jackson.

Despite Skeeter's shortcomings, Aibileen and Minny's day-to-day lives were so captivating for me; I loved learning what they knew of the world they lived in and being privy to the way they felt about it.  My absolute favorite parts were the ones about Aibileen telling stories to little Mae Mobley and the other ones about the interactions between Celia Foote and Minny.  I wanted so badly for the injustices that surrounded them to become better, and I was on the edge of my seat, desperate for their story to be told.  I nearly cried when (spoiler alert) the members of Aibileen's church presented a finally-published copy of the book that they had all signed as a gesture of gratitude, support, and prayers.  Another tear jerker was on those last few pages when Aibileen was forced to leave Mae Mobley.

This book has it all: human insight, emotionally charged bits of history, danger, romance, secrets, and even a healthy dose of humor.  As far as I'm concerned, it kicked To Kill a Mockingbird right in the pants!  I honestly wouldn't object if the entire public education system retired Boo Radley in favor of Two-Slice Hilly.  Okay, I may be going a little overboard; Boo is still pretty important.  All I'm saying is that this book has the potential to captivate people in a way that To Kill a Mockingbird might not be able to.  It does have some very adult themes and content, but what YA classic doesn't?  We were all there when Anne Frank asked to touch Jacque's breasts.

There are few books that I would give such a rating to simply because there always seems to be something in them that gives me pause and drags them down to a four in my eyes, but despite some minor flaws, The Help has earned its 5 out of 5 stars.