Read this when I was in eight grade, and I've also seen both editions of the movie. It's such a classic, and I love how the novel has little to do with really deciding if the kid is guilty or not. It's more about just getting people to shift their ideas of the way things are. A novel of persuasion. I really loved that dynamic, that it's essentially just a group of people sitting down and talking but ultimately changing as a result of that discourse. Brilliant.