The Help by Kathryn Stockett (50)

This is the best book I've read all year! Set in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962, the book features African American women who work as maids for white families and the women for whom they work. The story is told through their voices and viewpoints revealing their personalities and life issues. Skeeter is a young white woman, home with her parents after finishing college, finding herself at odds with her high school classmates who are now married, having babies, and managing households including the maids working for them. Aibileen and Minny are two of the maids working hard in houses and often treated badly. This was a time for great turmoil and change in the south which we learn about as the story progresses. This is very well done and a very memorable read.