being called a girl is the worst thing possible—or so thinks Scout, the female protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird. Girls wear frilly pink dresses and don't get to play outside, swear, or pretty much do anything fun. And they have to grow up to be ladies, which means being plunged into a confusing world where no one says what they mean. Scout's in for a big lesson, though: thanks to the examples of radical chicks Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie, she learns that being a lady can take as just as much courage as being a wild tomboy. Even if you have to wear a dress while doing it.
