The Help By Kathryn Stockett

The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, was one of the funniest and most touching books I’ve read because of the amusing characters’ attitudes and the strong bond that grows between a young white woman and two black maids. The young, white, woman writes their stories of working in the homes of middle class white families in Jackson, Mississippi. This book will have you laughing one minute and crying the next. Set in 1962, The Help is about a young, white woman named Skeeter who has returned to her home town Mississippi fresh out of college. She has a degree now and wants to be a journalist, but her mother wishes only for her to be married. Constantine, the maid who raised Skeeter since very young age, has apparently quit while Skeeter was away at college. Skeeter is doubtful of this and won’t stop searching for the truth. Meanwhile, controversy about racism and the treatment of African Americans escalates. Skeeter decides to take this controversy

Because Mae Mobley’s mother would have nothing to do with her, Aibeleen loved and cared for Mae Mobley as her own daughter. Aibeleen felt it was most important to teach the little girl to love herself, one of the ways she did this was by telling Mae Mobley every day, “You kind, you smart, you important.” (Stockett, 2009, p.199). Minny, the second maid and Aibeleen’s best friend, has a physically abusive husband, Leroy, and five children. She’s constantly getting fired for her inability to stop sassing her employers, until she meets a very nice young white lady who has never before had a maid until she hired Minny. Minny is hesitant in the beginning about opening up to a young white girl with her stories because if they are discovered it could cost them their lives. However, once she does, there is no stopping