The Help by Kathryn Stockett

It's rare that I see a movie based on a book before I actually read the book but that's what happened with The Help. I don't think it would have changed my opinion either way. I loved it!! There were some changes between the two but that's standard. The only pout part was that since I had seen the movie first, there was no suspense for 'the Terrible Awful Thing' but it was still a great read.

The book edition I got was published after the movie so the cover had the movie actresses on it. I don't like that. I understand it's a smart marketing move on the publisher's part but sometimes it takes away from the reader's personal mental development of the characters. Case in point, Mrs. Hilly Holbrook. The book describes her physically different than the actress looks in the movie. They both act the same: nasty evil! (Which is what we love to hate about her, right?!)

I was born and raised in the south (Louisiana). I never had maids or 'help'. I had a single mom who busted her butt to raise 3 kids. I never saw a color difference; Mom never made a big deal about it. It was really a non-issue. And I never even thought about it until I moved to Indiana for my senior year of high school. I went through worse culture shock than the foreign exchange students.

I may have prejudices that I'm not aware of (everybody does) but I know color isn't one of them. Thank you, Mom.