<P> To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960 . It was immediately successful , winning the Pulitzer Prize , and has become a classic of modern American literature . The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee 's observations of her family , her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville , Alabama , in 1936 , when she was 10 years old . The story is told by the six - year - old Jean Louise Finch . </P>
when did to kill a mockingbird become popular
1960